The Way We Live Now, #3

How I order at Adela’s Westside Cafe.

I’ve already put on my mask. I squirt hand sanitizer on my hands. Using a tissue or part of a paper napkin, I push open the door. (Once or twice I took a wet-wipe that I’d sprayed hydrogen peroxide on and used that. It seemed like a lot of work.) I fold over the napkin so any of the virus are on the inside and put it in my pocket.

I stand behind the tape strip and order.

After a get my order, I take a squirt of Adela’s hand sanitizer from the bottle near the door. I use the napkin to push open the door (I haven’t rubbed in the sanitizer yet.) Sometimes I just use my elbow. Outside, I throw the napkin in the trash receptacle and rub the sanitizer into my hands, which are beginning to sting.

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How I greet the neighborhood dogs.

“Hi, Maple! Hi, Trip! Such good dogs! Hi, Roxie! Hi, Louie! Hi, River, hi, Morgan! Hi, Ginger and Lily! Hi, Violet! Hi, Zuma! I wish I could pet you all!”

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How I keep in touch.

Phone and email. Zoom, as we’ve discussed. The writers group uses GoToMeeting, which is quite successful.

I talk to my neighbors from the far side of the sidewalk or even the gutter while they are in their yards. I talk to my across the street neighbor from across the street, which, oddly, is no change from how we used to talk. I call my older across the street neighbor on the phone, or text her a couple of times a week, and she does the same.

I’ve been looking at Nextdoor more than I was, and even commenting sometimes if I have something useful to say. A lot of the content is useful; the site is already drifting toward Twitterville, though, with a definite concentration of the fearmongering, the negative, the paranoid and the vile. However, it’s an easy site to manage and an easy site to skip, and there can be good information as well as genuine neighborly spirit.

I use Facebook and Twitter.

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How I support local businesses.

Once or twice a week I obscure my basic laziness with a veil of community do-gooderism. “I’m getting us take-out,” I say grandly. “I’m supporting our local restaurants.” That sounds so much better than, “I’m getting us take-out because I don’t want to cook.”

We’ve had take-out from:

The Thai Pot
Fandee’s
O&C China Bistro, formerly Eight Cuisine
Adela’s
King Falafel

All of these places will sell you a gift card.

So, that’s how I’m doing things.