Here in Ontario, more things opened up this week. Basically, if you can do curbside/delivery or (in some special cases) adhere to the rules that pharmacies and grocery stores have been following, you can open, regardless of what claim you may have to being essential.
Essential. Like, say, liquor stores.
I hadn't been to one in a couple of weeks, but now that they're taking back returns again, I gathered up our accumulated bottles and cans and went to the nearest Beer Store. I was third in the returns line. I might have just passed them off to someone. The grizzled, weathered-faced man ahead of me could have used them. However, they're only taking one load at a time from any one person, with a load loosely defined by plastic garbage cans they set up outside for our use. The man ahead of me was clearly pushing the limit.
First-in-line scavenges, collecting cans from wherever he can get them. Some of the university students remain in town, and he knows, he told us, certain porches. He was interrupted at one the night before, by a young scholar who thought someone was trying to break into the house. "'I'm just collecting yer empties,' I told the guy." Apparently, the tenant accepted the reasoning, and he went inside. Doubtless they'd left their empties on the porch because the thought of returning them was now onerous. "I don't take the bottles, though," said the weathered-faced man. "Someone else can get those. Too heavy for what ya get. Hard to walk with a lot of glass bottles." I nodded. "Hey, how much longer?"
I looked at my cell-phone. "Four more minutes." A couple of those passed. Security provided instructions for the new arrivals.
"They gotta open the schools back up," first-in-line said, decisively. "Not right, kids being out of school."
"They have online learning."
"Yeah, that ain't right," he said, "Kids need guidance." He paused a minute. "Good haul," he said, indicating his plastic garbage-can. "I probably got enough for a six-pack in there."
I returned my cans and bottles but made no purchase. It's a smaller outlet with limited choices. I went instead to the LCBO, and was surprised to see no line-up. Of course, with the changes this week, a lot of people are either going to work or purchasing previously-unavailable items.
At home, I logged back on to work. I will continue from home until at least the end of the month. We have an online meeting tomorrow that (rumour has it) will provide information on the likelihood of returning to the physical building in June.
In the evening, my department held a small Zoom party. It was good to talk to them in a social setting again.
Outside, I suppose, somewhere, the intrepid forager made his way along the streets and down the alleys, collecting cans (no bottles, please!) for the next morning's run.