Pandemic memories from Australia.
Stuffed fluffy kids animals tied to tree branches or gate posts outside houses where there are children; passing at a ‘safe’ distance other walkers; no toilet paper in supermarkets, then the rice and pasta empty; flour too, and cleaning materials/fluids; only certain numbers allowed inside the supermarket at any one time, staff counting and checking; shops empty/closed up at the shopping mall; no planes in the sky, sound of their engines as they throttle up or back; fewer vehicles on roads as people are at home; no using cash; nightly bulletin or morning presser by State and Federal politcos and medical officers; Zoom comes into its own as a virtual platform; driving and thinking am I infected? And if I am what then? People lining up outside Centrelink early on [before it opens its shutters at 8.30am]; marks on the ground where people need to stand to observe social distancing – looks like where actors stand in a film shoot. Have a drink while at the hairdresser, since both bottleshops and hair salons remain open.
