Got my flu shot this morning, up at the local pharmacy. By appointment only now. I picked up an application form early last week, then two days later returned it to the drug store.

Now that I’m getting older, I’m no longer prepared to put up with a lot of the BS that goes on out there, especially when it comes to COVID-19. When I returned the form to the pharmacy, the young guy behind the counter strongly suggested I refill the form, but online, just to get a confirmation number. I shot the guy a dirty look, and he knew right away I had no intention of doing so. Despite this, he made an appointment for me the following week; today.

I hate wasting my time, and had already spent a half hour filling out the application by hand. If I went online, it would mean setting up some sort of account with the pharmacy; God knows how long that would have taken (I hate learning new technology), then redoing the form electronically.

Anyhoo, I arrived today with the form for my 10:30 appointment. There were only a couple of people ahead of me, and so everything moved along smoothly, and I was done by 11am. The man administering the shot asked me to wait 15 minutes, to make sure there were no problems. "No problem," I replied.

And so, I stood in a little alcove right beside the pharmacy station. Before the pandemic, there had been chairs there, but they had all been removed. There had also been one of those blood-pressure machines, with its own little chair, but it too was now gone.

Wasn’t long, the head pharmacist came by and asked me if I needed advice about something. I said, “No thanks,” and that I was just waiting as instructed as per the flu shot.

He then goes on to say, “Well you can’t wait here.”

“What I am I suppose to do?”

He suggested I just wander around the store for 15 minutes.

I lost it.

“This is stupid!” I exclaimed. “You should have some chairs here.”

They’ve been removed for your protection,” he replied.

I quipped back, “Space them six feet apart.”

Hell, I was wearing a facemask. Should I don PPE, and a hazmat suit too???

He just gave me a dirty look, watching as I then stormed out of the pharmacy.

I felt bad afterwards, because I’ve been dealing with this nice old guy (owner of the pharmacy) for years, but today I had had enough. I was at least civil enough not to swear at him, but felt vindicated in making my point, and venting some of my COVID fatigue and frustration.

I had other things to buy at the plaza, which took me more than 15 minutes, and plenty of time to return to the drug store, should anything have gone wrong with the shot.

What happened in the pharmacy though, illustrates one example of the lack of common sense out there. That same plaza also had a couple of park benches. They had also been removed, shortly after the lockdown in March. Another example of the population being treated like children, and part of the reason why everyone’s so uptight these days…and confused.

Ottawa is currently one of Ontario’s ‘hot spots’, and the provincial government has put us into a modified Stage 2 lockdown for 28 days, to try and re-flatten the curve. Bars, strip clubs, and restaurants closed; no more indoor dining…only take out. Fitness clubs, yoga, etc. out of action, but here’s where it gets nonsensical: dance studios with limited customers are allowed to stay open.

The government seems to be making up rules as it goes, which is part of the frustration. Bars and strip clubs are one thing; no one disputes they’re hotbeds for spreading the virus, especially when some get touchy-feely under the influence, even though most of the second wave seems to have been associated with private parties.

It’s the restaurants I feel sorry for. Many owners, already hanging by their fingernails, invested hundreds if not thousands of dollars to make sure they complied with the rules, and to the best of my knowledge, there were no outbreaks because of them. Several of those in the Market and elsewhere with patios, had made a partial recovery, but now that the colder weather has arrived, these establishments tried to keep them open longer, by installing heaters and canvas walls to block the wind. Verboten. The Corona police indicating that putting up one or two temporary walls on patios constituted an enclosed area, and the owners would be fined. ARRRRRR!!!

Halloween has largely been cancelled this year, the provincial government recommending no door-to-door candy for the little ones, despite taking precautions. “Keep the celebration in your own homes and bubbles this year.”


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10/21/2020

Posted on 10/21/2020
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti