worries

The last few days the winds have been strong and cold. It feels a bit like winter has finally come, although no snow, just clear skies and chilling winds. I worry about my wife’s stomach – her favourite coat is now too small and she cannot button it. I insist she wears a thick scarf, she insists she is really very very warm without the scarf. We are having those little arguments sometimes, and we are quite happy about having them. 

Anyway, those small worries are better than being overly preoccupied by the Corona virus. It is difficult not to, it is impossible to see a TV-screen without being overwhelmed by the news of the virus. It is impossible to go into a store without signs saying masks are sold out and hearing customers asking about when they will be bak in stock (I am sorry, I cannot say). I was anew dragged into the mask frenzy early this week, looking for masks wherever I went – my wife told me about the morning brief at work where they talked about the sold out masks and how to make masks at home by yourself, so then I started to panic. 

I am not even sure if the masks are any good, makes any difference – the reports in the news are quite diverse. But still, the feeling of doing what we can is not to be underestimated. Not to mention that it is quite warm and comfortable for the nose when the winds are chilly like now. The other day, after having dropped off my wife at work, I took the normal mask-searching route and low and behold, there at the pharmacy there were a few boxes of masks, just like there never had been any shortage at all. So I happily bought a box with 60 masks for 600 yen. 

Today, as I was walking down a little street towards the station, I saw a small grocery store with some boxes of masks outside. Oh, I thought, the mask shortage is finally over. Then I looked closer – one mask, 200 yen! Seeing that was really scary, almost more scary than the reports of the virus. So on my way home, I thought that maybe it would be good to have some wet wipes as well, in case we are out and about and cannot wash our hands and need to use them for something when hand hygien is important. I was very surprised when there was a big pile of wipes at the store. Maybe I am early to think of the benefits of having wet wipes handy now, I thought. Finally I am in front of the main stream public looking for virus protective measures to take.

When I came home I saw that the package said wet wipes for the oshiri (I think you can guess the meaning). 恥ずかしい。