Corona Diary: The big freeze

Disaster has finally happened. We thought we were doing well. We thought we were getting through the current crisis. Then somebody left the freezer door open.
Overnight, all of our carefully stocked up provisions were destroyed, or at least severely defrosted. We went from survivors to scavengers in a heartbeat, if scavenging could be said to consist of going through the flaccid remains of an Iceland delivery and trying to work out if you can make a meal from tuna steak, potato waffles and sausage rolls.
Naturally, when we discovered this, our first instinct was to save the ice cream. We could live without burgers and frozen chicken, but I’d be damned if we were going to lose the confectionary. They were supposed to be our summer treat. I’d bought Nobbly Bobblies.

In the end, we took what could from the salvageable goods, transferred the meat and seafood into the fridge for immediate-ish use, and transferred anything that could be refrozen back into the now soggy freezer.
We had been doing well. We’d managed to find a recent delivery slot. Now, suddenly, we had an empty freezer and a lot of big meals coming up.

It’s easy to be knocked for six by unexpected events. I think we’ve all found that out recently. The part that gets you is the uncertainty. If you don’t know what’s about to happen, its hard to feel stable; easy for the smallest thing to set you off balance.

We’re fine. We have plenty of food. We can organize more deliveries. Other people have a more challenging time ahead. Some have lost their jobs. Some don’t know if they’ll have a job to get back to. We just have to worry about what shape our ice cream is going to re-freeze into.

The important thing to remember is that we’re all going through this together. Everyone will have challenging moments. Sometimes, something that seems trivial and important may be the thing that pushes them over the edge. Sometimes, the thing that will bring someone low is not worrying about loved ones, or trying to provide care in difficult circumstances, but stubbing your toe, or spilling the milk, or finding you’ve left the freezer door open.

Don’t assume that everyone around you is okay. The ones who seem to be handling it best may be the ones who need your support the most. Everyone, at some point, is going to have a really bad day.

That’s the time when people are least likely to reach out. The only way to be there in the bad times is to be there in the good times. Reach out to your friends. Reach out to your neighbours. It may not feel like they need you.
Your job is to still be around when they do.