I saw a meme the other day and it was a picture of a large shopping cart full of food, it said, “Stop judging – we are not stockpiling. This food gets us through Tuesday. #LargeFamilyProblems”

This was totally me today at Wal-mart. We purposely didn’t buy food before we were leaving for spring break and then a week later I go grocery shopping only to find the aisles have been wiped clean – not all aisles, but all the cleaning supplies were gone, cereals were picked over, no pasta or sauce, no soup or beans or peanut butter. Luckily, we always have a food storage supply so every week I’m shopping, I’m buying fresh and replenishing what we always go through but I’m sure I got some stares today. I just wanted to put a sign on my forehead that read “Feeding a family of 7”. Not shopping out of fear, just weekly shopping.

But walking the aisles today was a little eye opening. It’s escalated quickly – like nothing I’ve experienced in my life.

A week ago we were packing for a trip that we had planned months prior. There was really no concern – our state has not been exposed like some of the others…yet. We were driving four hours away to a secluded beach house (more quarantined than we are at home) and there was no travel advisory for the area at the time – only warning traveling to and from a select few level 3 countries. School was business as usual. Events were going on as normal. Gatherings took place like they always do. Aside from Costco limiting bottles of water and toilet paper, life was ordinary.

Fast forward 1 week and we are in a completely different place as a society. The first cancellation due to coronavirus I heard about yesterday was the NCAA March Madness. NBA and MLB were quick to follow. That was huge. I’m sure sporting events make up a large number of mass gatherings and they were quick to pull the plug. Concerts were next to start making cancellations. (Celine Dion you will be missed and I’m hoping for a rescheduled event!) President Trump came out and issued a travel ban from European countries. I went to sleep last night thinking how much had changed in such a short amount of time.

And then today’s news started rolling and I couldn’t have imagined the magnitude. Our church made several announcements cancelling all gatherings/meetings – this is a huge impact on our family and church as a whole and completely unprecedented. More events cancelled today and Disneyland announced their 4th closure…ever. We’re currently on spring break but our school district will let us know by Saturday what the plan is. I think at this point there’s social pressure beyond measure to cancel everything to help contain the spreading.

I’m not naturally a fearful person – but watching this change and evolve so quickly makes me a little cautious. I’m not worried about contracting the virus, but I do start to wonder what happens when a society starts to panic and shut down and we’re starting to see the first signs of that.

I’m not sure what the news holds tomorrow, but I’m sure there will be something. Happy weekend and wash your hands!