mainly a beer run

I wrote this end of March, 2020, just as COVID was descending. Kathy and I were impressed at the working guys keeping things going. When’s their parade?

It was mainly a beer run, off to Castle on the West Side with its fully stocked shelves and impressive collection of IPAs.  No outgoing today, with collection of empties suspended because corona.   So we’re maybe facing an Alice’s Restaurant deal in our garage if the situation continues.  While out there, we stopped at nearby Stadium Hardware for an item we needed.  Pulling up in back, we met a group of hardware guys (all guys, some in shorts on this balmy 47 degree day).  The doors to the store were closed to customers, but a large rack of cleaning supplies was prominently displayed on a wire rack near the door. I never expected drive-up service at a hardware store, but here the guys were, asking you what you needed then going into the store to find it.  No masks or hand sanitizer anywhere to be seen.  We got our small thing after only 2 tries.   But we marveled at how this store and these guys had been able to adapt, continuing to serve the small parking lot full of folks needing various thingies you can only get at a hardware store.  Essential, maybe not, but sometimes life stops without the right thingie, and it is so reassuring to know you can still go out and get such a thing.  So hats off to the blue collar guys that keep things going out there in times when we’re just supposed to cower and shelter in place.  Life goes on thanks to the blue collar guys.  We owe them a parade when this is all over.