Today, we wake up to the the news that Kevin Durant, who just last year, was playing for the Warriors, tested positive for the COVID-19. Could it be that basketball players are all touching the same surface, the basketball. Or that disgusting thing they do, lick their hands and rub the soles of their shoes?
We go out for croissants and coffee at the Rustic Bakery, a Saturday morning ritual, but we don't get there until late in the morning. They've run out of croissants, and most other baked goods. "We have only 2 out of 8 bakers reporting to work," says the nice guy at the counter. All their chairs have been removed so no one can dine in and violate the law. On the way out, a customer who has ordered ahead, stops dead in his tracks until we walk by and accepts a bag only after it has been left on a table outside the restaurant. I can't blame him. He is gray haired. Older people are dieing at a far greater rate from COVID-19. The NYT, after looking at data from New York hospitals, found that 1 out of 5 or 6 admitted to NY ICUs did not get out.
We are forced to go down the street. At the local coffee shop, Dr. Insommnia, they still have their signature "scruffins" and you can sit outside to enjoy them. More than the required 6 feet away is a great Dane. "Usually, he gets all kinds of attention," the owner says.
If course, there are no garage sales -- the other part of our Saturday.
It's a tough life in Marin. Not really. I apologize. Do excuse the attempt at humor at this most trying of time. Most of us have our (very expensive) houses paid up. We can walk around our neighborhoods smiling at each other. We don't have to sweat monthly rent payments. What is it like in SF, like the Mission District, for example. Is it desperate times. Most people in the city rent, don't they? What if you are depending on your job in a restaurant, and that restaurant is now closed, or barely open, only doing takeout and delivery. If you are waitstaff, you are out of luck.