We took our first road-trip since the beginning of the pandemic and met the families of three friends in all many different states along the way. Meeting people in a setting as normal as it could be under the circumstances was as bewildering as it was refreshing. Every time, I reminded myself this is how the world used to be once. One of our friends said people will refer to this period we are experiencing as Pre-C and Post-C and she is probably right. At every service area, we found most restaurants closed for business and the few that were opened, running short staffed and without their full menu. People are not sure what they are meant to do about masks - keep them on as if they were not fully vaccinated, keep them somewhat on so as to make others comfortable in their presence or not bother at all.
The population seems to be a mix of the three making for a complicated situation. One of the small towns we stopped for gas had very limited offerings at the only fast food establishment that was operational in the vicinity of the gas station. We needed some dinner and drove around until we found an open sea-food establishment. We were told to order in ten minutes as they were closing early. There were two or three other patrons in the establishment and the two owners were hovering over the full set of customers. I did not notice any waitstaff.
The food was unremarkable and expensive. The duo offered many apologies and asked if they could remake our order. We did not have the heart to bother them - maybe they did not have enough staff in the kitchen either. If may be the lack of practice but the quality of the cooking was far from professional and this place had terrific ratings on Yelp - maybe they were great Pre-C. They had managed to keep lights on but it was not all there.
The world felt fractured, broken and trying to heal with people milling around confused about what to do with their new found freedom. We are all going through the motions of normalcy trying to behave as we remember ourselves from Pre-C times. But it does not fit or make sense for what the world has turned into. There may not be a path to return to the way things used to be but we are yet to accept that reality or shape our lives accordingly.
Reading the history of the seafood establishment we had visited made me sad:
In May 2001, Tim decided to leave the corporate world and pursue his passion as a waterman. For 10 years, he caught crabs and delivered them to local crab businesses. During this time, he and his wife, Ava, always had the idea and vision to open their own place so they could offer the freshest crabs at the best prices. In 2011 Tim and Ava opened this restaurant.
This was clearly a labor of love, something that had taken risk-taking and giving up the stable, tried and true. Now after twenty years, they might be forced to close shop and hang up their water shoes.
Comments