Some In The Magic Valley Missed The Social Distance Memo
The idea of social distancing during this coronavirus pandemic is pretty simple: you stay away from me and I'll stay away from you. The world is cancelling sporting events, school classes, movie releases, and closing restaurants in a singular effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. So, why in the world did a door-to-door salesman come to my house yesterday? No, you can't come inside to show me your amazing whatever-it-is product and you can't come by tomorrow with your crew to give me a free quote of my roof and siding needs. Even though I do need my siding painted.
Yesterday was the first day of spring and in a sign of the season change I saw, and killed, the first spider of the year in my house. The spider didn't know about the social distancing my family was doing and paid for that ignorance with his life. Luckily the salesman yesterday was understanding when I told him no and didn't push back or I might have had my wife throw a shoe at him too. These door-to-door visits are actually illegal right now in some places and really just not the best thing to do right now anyways. And if someone shows up claiming to be doing free COVID-19 tests, go ahead and close the door.
I get that the new spring season has officially begun and the weather hasn't been terrible so people don't want to be stuck in their homes. I've had my kids go out on bike rides around the neighborhood with instructions to not touch anything. We go on car rides around town and we have done a lot of yard work. Keeping kids crammed in the house isn't possible, they need to be doing things.
Some people online have chastised others for even leaving their houses to go shopping for essentials or to head to the park for a walk. We aren't currently quarantined and I think getting outside will be essential to our sanity the longer this social distancing goes on. That's my opinion. I won't be coming to any house parties or playing on the swing set at the park, but my family will be outside at least once a day. Maybe we'll get out the kayaks and fishing poles and just hang out on the river for the next few weeks.