As a kid growing up in the Northeast, there was nothing better than a snow day. No school, and the day was pretty much yours. Sledding and walking to the neighbors for hot chocolate, then coming home and napping until dinner. No worries no responsibilities. The only thing that could make it better is if the snow day extended into the next morning, by having a delay. That meant you could go back to sleep for a couple hours and school would switch to a shortened class period making you day just speed though. Such a welcome unexpected bonus in the middle of winter.
When you become and adult snow days are quite different. Before the internet and laptops, you were still expected to go to work. Only occasionally, would a businesses close, and only then, could you relive that moment of your childhood. It’s not quite as exciting when your snow day is spent shoveling cars sideways and driveways.
Back in 1996, I was living in West Reading Pennsylvania. It’s located about 1.5 hours from New York City and also about the same distance from Philadelphia. I had been living in and around this area for about 10 years while in college and then beginning my career. I loved the area. It was diverse, and just far enough, away from home. I was on my own, but close enough that I could go home with a short 2-hour drive.
The reason I focused on 1996 is because of the WINTER of 1996. Beginning in early January, we got a major snow storm. It was just massive for our area. They called it the storm of the century. One of the countless “storms of the century” threats, we had in the 4 remaining years of the 1900’s. I’ll try to find a photo to share. Within a week or so we had a second major storm, also quickly labeled “the storm of the century”. When living in more densely populated areas, massive snowstorms area a particular challenge. City parking is curbside street parking and after spending hours and hours digging out, no one was willing to give up the spot they spent so long creating for their car. During this event, I remember the police showing up on my street. They received a call that, a group of people, myself included, were digging out, and as we did, were throwing the snow on top of someone else’s car, burring it even further. To show the policeman that there was no car under our pile, I stuck the handle of my broom in the pile as far as it would go, and repeated this along the pile, to show, there was no buried car. That neighbor had forgotten where exactly they had parked and eventually found their car several spot back. Tensions were high, as people spent 6 to eight hours, first digging from the house to the car and then digging out the car. Many of us were not willing to loose the spot we spent so long digging. I started walking the 2 miles to work rather then risking the loss of my coveted parking space. The streets were a mess. Almost all of the city streets were reduced to one lane. That meant that you may get half way down the block and find a car trying to come up from the other end. It became a delicate stand off, as to who had to back up, to allow the other to pass. I remember that I didn’t work five consecutive days, that entire month. We had what seemed like storm after storm, and people were shut in for what seemed like forever.
What I hadn’t planned for during this, “Storm of the Century”, or multiple storms, was the run on the grocery stores. By the time I was able to get to the grocery store, after the first two storms, there was nothing left. No milk, no eggs, no bread, no meat, no produce. People had flocked to the stores to stock up and new shipments could not get through to replenish the empty shelves. I had never experienced anything like that. I ended up finding some frozen bread dough and had peanut butter and mint jelly (only jelly left) for the next week or so.
I learned a valuable lesson through that experience. Dont wait until the last minute. I was in my 20’s then and of course thought I was invincible. I had never seen a grocery store with anything but abundant supplies.
From then on, I had a supply of necessities. I would also take a severe weather alert more seriously. Its better to prepare for something and then, not need it. Its not so easy to scramble once the event is upon us. I also understood the reason there is always a rush for bread and milk when there is the slightest threat of snow.
So, the winter of 2020, I already had a stocked pantry. We had less then 2 inches of snow this season. A very odd season for sure. So all of my pre-prep for the winter was still in my full pantry.
Fast forward to February 27, 2020. On February 27, the Corona Virus made me take notice. It was still very new to people, here in the United States. So many Americans have a notion that things that happen, around the world, have no impact on Americans. They seem so far away as if our borders can stop all threats in their paths. There were occasional memories here and there like the Swine Flu, H1N1, SARs, and Ebola. All were very serious, but yet didn’t affect our daily lives very much, if at all. Little did we know, all that was about to change.
I was speaking to my Mom. She is a 90 year old woman that does pretty well for herself considering. She is independent, but I watch her world constantly shrinking around her. Things that were once second nature are now planned as a day long event. Her mind is still sharp, usually, but her hearing is a constant struggle. Occasionally I question the authenticity of her statements but for the most part I just let them slide. Does it really matter or hurt anyone if she fills in the blanks when her ears cant quite make out the facts?
On this particular day, the Princess Line Cruise Ship was in quarantine off the coast of Japan and there were reports that there were Americans on board and that some of them were sick, possibly with the Novel Corona Virus. I didn’t see any report that mentioned the passengers, by name, or ever where they were from. That night when I spoke to my Mom, she blurted out, “You know your ex brother in law is on the boat.”
“What boat?” I asked
“You know the boat, the boat that those people got sick.” she said. I really thought she was loosing it. My sister and her ex had ended that marriage long ago and neither my Mom or myself had seen my brother-in-law in 15 years or more. Well again, “Listen to you mother” She confirmed a couple day later that he was in fact on that ship.
This flu thing, that was a world away, suddenly is very close to home. I started following the story on the internet with much more vigor. At this point it was described as a flu. I decided that I should prepare in case this came our way. I dont take medications at all. I dont even keep Aspirin or Tylenol on hand because every time Ive actually needed it, i would find my bottle is expired.
The next day I went to the store and bought a bottle of each. I also bought what I thought I would need to combat the flu. I was good to go.
In less that a week I was back at the bulk store stocking up. I had also texted a couple of close friends. I didn’t want to shout the “Sky is falling” but wanted to draw their attention to the story. the virus was now inside the United States boarders. Its funny, one friend took my advise and one didn’t. The second, was out during the crazy week, she and everyone were trying to buy hand sanitizer, wipes, masks, water, the coveted toilet paper. The following week it seemed people bought everything else that was on store shelves, leaving stores empty. The photos my friend were sending took me right back to that winter in 1996.
The first few days of this week seemed exactly like a snow day. Your stuck inside the house and, looking out, there is very little traffic on my normally busy street. We are waiting for whats next? But, that “whats next” never comes. You just continue to wait. The snow storm never comes… but you continue to wait…because IT’S coming. The storm is coming.
#ElderParents #Quarantine #socialIsolation #coronavirus #GovernorCuomo # DrFaussi #TrumpCoronaVirus
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