More Social Distancing Fun

As people and businesses become more accepting and committed to social distancing, one side effect is some atypical situations that I can’t help but find at least mildly amusing. And really, it’s times like these when everyone can likely use an extra smile or two. For example, at the grocery store there are now markers on the floor, spaced 6′ apart, indicating where people should stand when lining up for the checkout. Where once stood a lineup that might haven taken up MAYBE 15 feet now sees lines extending further. Much further. Of course, it inevitably leads to people unintentionally cutting into the line until they realize the end of the line is actually about 72′ away. The look on their face as they realize the short line they thought they were lucky enough to score was in fact too good to be true. And yes, I’m speaking from personal experience.

And while there’s definitely humour to be found in this whole situation, some people are obviously (and rightly) very concerned by it. When I was out earlier today, I crossed paths with an older woman who was out for a walk. We were on a pedestrian bridge at the time so there was only so much space that could be given. She stayed as far over as she could and wouldn’t even make eye contact. I offered a “Good morning” to which she just kept walking, staring straight ahead. I think I noticed a VERY momentary glance in my direction at which time I think she MAY have tried mouth a “Hi” but there was no accompanying audio. I have to say I felt a bit bad for her. I mean, I don’t believe she didn’t want to say, “Hi”, I just think she’s scared. And I’m sure she’s not the only one.

Anyway, for the foreseeable future social distancing will likely be touted as critical to stopping (or at least slowing) the spread of the coronavirus. How successful that will be is anyone’s guess but for now there aren’t a lot of options and at least it offers people the illusion of safety. As it happens, I still find myself almost enjoying the pseudo-mandated isolation. There may not be an “I” in team but there’s definitely one in “Introvert”. Of which, I most definitely am.

There are also “I”s in “bike”, “exercise”, and “social distancing”. As such I decided to combine the three by taking my winter (aka. beater) bike out for a ride. Yes, at this point in the year, I’m a bit overdue for putting said bike away and bringing out my summer bike. That day will come. But for now, my winter bike and I enjoyed a good day of social distancing while getting a bit of exercise in the process. Not surprisingly, because I’m me, I decided to shoot a bit of video of our outing. As usual, mostly for my own amusement since it’s not like this site gets much traffic. Hopefully the video will appear below … I have no doubt it will be flagged by YouTube for copyright infringement. Maybe they’ll just slap ads all over it. Sigh. Here’s the video: