INSTACART Full Service Shopper wearing the correct PPE delivering groceries during the Safe at Home order, April 8th, 2020. An essential little story of a night last week.
- A Day’s Description re: Delivering Simple Bags Of Food During the era of “Safe At Home” & “6 Feet of Separation” in So Cal.
Last Thursday, I think it was, I had done three trips to Running Springs, a single household deep in the backside of Dart Canyon and a final trip to the Valley of Enchantment.
We had a fair amount of snowfall the night before in the Southern California mountain communities. Between the CoronaVirus and 2-3 feet of fresh snow piled onto roads, those on the receiving end of groceries were noticeably extra appreciative of the delivery driver wearing the right gloves and a Protective face mask. Appreciative enough to put $431 bucks in my pocket last week.
Two 12 hour days of maneuvering up & down curvy mountain roads, buried in snow, was nothin’ compared the positive results. After dark tho, nighttime driving was something else completely. A situation that was a “one car length visibility” at best, thru pea soup fog with the white stuff coming down like no tomorrow.. Couldn’t see the white line on the shoulder side, but maybe 25% of the time, same with the center yellow divider lines on the left. I missed curves twice during two nights of that condition when I found myself sliding to a stop off the road somewhere. Didn’t get stuck tho or hit anything either.
All worth every effort too. After handing over a few bags of grub to some of the folks, we’d often share little chats together. It’s so funny, now that I think about it.
On one of those super foggy trips, a can’t see a damned thing in front of me kinda night, I had made a delivery to an older Biker looking guy, who lived in a real nice house in Running Springs. I had a feeling that he knew the hazardous drive that it was, when he asked me to wait outside the front door for a second, he said he’d be right back. Just a few seconds later he popped the front door open and put three rolls of toilet paper in my arms. That was the day after that major hoarding thing went on. He smiled and asked me if I had some at home, which actually, I was running low of as well. Biker one to biker two, we both cracked up.
We didn’t shake hands, keeping to the COVID-19 protocols of conduct, but we did bounce a roll off of each other’s roll before I took off back into the foggy, snowy, crazy night, for the return trip on the 18, Rim of the World Hwy thru Running Springs to Lake Arrowhead.
That is surely going to be one of the better memories to be shared further on down the road. Like maybe 10 years from now, when some kid may ask me “what was it like back then during the “Coronavirus Pandemic“?” I might respond with something like “Oh ya, I remember those times well. I was delivering food to folks in the San Bernardino National Forest. Trippy man, it was a trip!”
There’s gotta be a song in there somewhere… Stay Safe Y’all…
What Else Is In The Works Ahead?
In regards to the New Gerald Desmond Bridge being erected in the Ports of LA/LB. As the work enters into the final months of construction keep an eye out for a chronological pictorial presentation that dates back from groundbreaking ceremonies to opening day of the New GDB. I’ll be releasing a pretty extensive collection soon enough.
Ok, Ok, So I’m Sidetracking a bit here today, by adding a picture from my last job with the ironworkers. The men, the job, the awesomeness of it all, simply a ton of pride. I’ve been putting together a pictorial presentation of the work on the New Gerald Desmond Bridge, which I will release soon enough.
Now, Let’s Get To The COVID-19 Pandemic
