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I have a wise friend. It’s wise to listen to wise friends. I lack wisdom.
A few weeks ago, when the first cases of the Coronavirus showed up in her city, the one right next to my small town, my friend went shopping. Not just shopping, but she went shopping!
She sent me a text to tell me, “I don’t know about you, but today, I went and stocked up on groceries. It’s just out of precaution. I got all the things that we are going to eat and use, so nothing is wasted. If the virus keeps coming, there’s going to be a panic in the city and everything is going to be gone!”
Are You Crazy?
When I heard her message, I thought she was crazy and over-reacting. I think I even told her that jokingly.
My husband laughed and said, “If there’s a problem, we will know where to go—our friend’s house!!!”
I relayed the message to my friend. She was not going to share her food if there was a shortage in the city. No way, and I honestly don’t blame her!
Monday night, when the Spanish government announced that the cases of Coronavirus had tripled in 24 hours, panic hit. They made a public declaration that all schools would be closed for two weeks.
In a matter of minutes, a Spanish friend sent me a Twitter link.
There were no words, only pictures.
“Let me know if you don’t understand something,” she said.
Oh, I understood. I understood very clearly. There was no language barrier here.
A picture speaks louder than a thousand words.
The Twitter post contained pictures of a local grocery store in our city. There was no food in the pictures, only empty shelves.
I couldn’t believe my eyes!
Wow!
Vincent had just gone to bed. I woke him up.
“You have to see this!” I said to him.
“What is it?” he asked in a groggy voice.
“It’s crazy! Look at this!” I said.
He got his glasses from the bedside table and put them on to look at the pictures.
“Wow! I guess we better go to the grocery store in the morning,” he said.
Early Morning Shopping Spree
Since the boys’ school is closed for at least two weeks, I needed to stay home and attend my new intensive class, “Parents Learn to Homeschool 101.” Vincent, on the other hand, left at 10:00 in the morning to get groceries at the big supermarket in the nearby city. (If you live in the U.S., imagine a Walmart Super Center.)
Upon arriving, he sent me an audio message with pictures. The cash register line circled all the way through the store and around to the vegetable aisle at the back of the store. Every grocery cart lined up was overflowing.
I called him quickly. “Why don’t you leave and go to a small store here in town? It will be more expensive, but sometimes you have to pay for sanity!”
He responded that he was there for the cultural experience and that he would persevere through!
Yes, my husband is crazy
Four hours later, my husband came home. He managed to find everything on our shopping list except for meat. Well, he managed to find the expensive kind, and he did buy some nice T-bone steaks!
However, I had asked
However, there was no ground beef and no chicken.
The shelves were empty!
No Meat!
My husband patiently went to a second large supermarket in the city. Same thing—no ground beef, no chicken.
He came home, brought in the groceries, put them away, and then headed back out on foot to our local corner store near our house.
Empty shelves!
Later that afternoon, we went to another grocery store in a smaller, rural town.
Empty shelves!
No veggies, no fruit, no meat, no milk . . . you name it . . . empty shelves.
It’s a good thing that my husband went grocery shopping in the morning.
Panic everywhere! Empty shelves!
We should have stocked up on groceries weeks ago!
I have a wise friend. It is wise to listen to wise friends. I lack wisdom.
—THE CULTURAL STORY-WEAVER
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