Travel is something I do. For decades I was a 40 week a year person, on planes and in hotels. Last week I spent a week in Northern Virginia, helping a friend recover from knee replacement surgery. It was an interesting experience.
Travel was slow north from Florida with many cars hosting Ontario plates alongside mine as we inched along. Word on the road was that the Canadians were concerned that Canada was going to close the border with the US. I packed apples and cheese, beverages and other snacks for the trip up, and planned on buying iced tea as I need it on the way.
My first stop was at a McDonald’s about 1pm. I expected tosee a lunch rush and was surprised when I was the only one in the restaurant. As
the coins hit my hand after this transaction and I thought about all the people
who had touched those coins, I vowed to only use my credit card going forward
and avoid taking anything other than what I absolutely had to from another
person. I recalled my mom telling me back in the 1960s that money was dirty,
that you didn’t know who had handled it. That went through my mind for the next
hour. My next stop was at 6pm, which should have been the dinner
rush. I was at an Arby’s and it was almost as empty as the McDonald’s. There
was a man at a table eating, and as I was leaving another man came in. Social
distancing was not an issue. On Sunday morning I left my hotel early and only taken coffee,
so weak that adding two creamers turned it a light shade of khaki. Never a good
sign. Two hours later I was looking for a stronger cup and found a Starbucks. I
was the only one there when I entered, but that didn’t last long. Four multi-people
parties arrived, jammed into line, with no social distancing in practice. None!
Multiple groups and they were all standing shoulder to shoulder.
This was a week of change. America saw states require restaurants to transition to take out only, public beaches were closed, businesses were ordered to close unless workers could work from home.
I departed yesterday and made the 940 mile drive in one shot. This trip was different. This time I was prepared.
My travel interactions were with three gas pumps while my “gas pump hand” was sheathed in a baggie. My needs stops were in rest areas where the only doors that needed to be opened or closed were to stalls and I had paper toweling to make that safe, and the soap and water dispensers were motion activated.
I carried everything I needed for travel–food, beverages and supplies. I even carried my own Lysol wipes and paper products should they be needed (Note: no paper shortage found in the rest areas—all stalls were loaded with toilet paper I’m happy to report.)
Today I am heading into my office to dismantle what I need to set up an effective home office. On Friday this past week, my employees did the same. As of tomorrow, we will be a fully online company. I’m grateful that they worked with me in the past weeks to make remote work a smooth transition.
Let’s flatten that curve! Stay safe out there.
