May 17, 2020

Slowly Re-Entering Society



Slowly Re-Entering Society
Todd Swank's Diary Entry for May 17, 2020


It has been a little more than 2 months since we entered quarantine and for the most part, we've done really good at removing ourselves from society and keeping to ourselves.  Other than walking the dog around the neighborhood, for the most part we've stayed confined to our house.


Our bird watching hobby has been boosted quite a bit lately with our constant desire to see something entertaining out the window.  Springtime is helping by bringing in a more diverse group of our feathered friends.  We saw this great white egret sitting in a tree while we walked by with the dog.  He didn't seem to like us too much and flew away pretty quickly.


These two were in a field down the street from our house.  They stood out because I couldn't remember seeing them around here before.  I believe they are Sandhill Cranes but I'm sure one of you bird experts will correct me if I'm wrong.


I believe this guy comes from Toronto, but I may be wrong.


This guy originated in St. Louis and then moved to Arizona, so I have no idea what he was doing here.


I haven't been to a store since early March, so when I heard that the "Largest Candy Store in Minnesota" was able to open again last week, I thought it would make a good choice for my first visit.


There's been a lot of controversy about a candy store being able to re-open when a lot of other stores in Minnesota aren't able to do that yet.  I've seen accusations online that the owner of the store is friends of the governor and therefore is receiving favoritism.  I don't know if that's true or not, but I did get a smile when I saw this letter posted outside the store explaining why they felt they were entitled to re-open. 

 
People have been saying this place was being overrun with crowds, but it wasn't all that busy the night I went there.  They had social distancing signs posted everywhere, plastic dividers hanging between aisles, and traffic arrows to follow.  I only saw about 25% of people wearing masks, so that probably wasn't great, but other than that it seemed pretty safe.  


They did have masks on several of the characters posed in the rafters which seemed smart.  I mean those poor things are stuck there all day so that makes a lot of sense.


They've actually done a really nice job at decorating the place with various characters hanging in the rafters.  I didn't stay long but was happy to feel like I was taking steps to be normal again.  I can see arguments both ways for why this place should be allowed to re-open and also why other candy stores should have the right to re-open again if they want to as well.  I think Minnesota's stay at home orders change again tomorrow anyways so all stores can re-open again.  So this should be a short lived controversy.  At least until the next one. 


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