Two days before “Shelter in Place” rules go into affect
I heard this morning that Cuomo will be enacting “Shelter in place” rules across New York City (state as well?) in 48 hours. I decided I ought to ride my bike around before it became unlawful, so I biked down to Times Square to see what it was like. The place was the emptiest I’d ever seen it, but there were still more people there than probably should be. Some seemed to not see the full scope of the virus, or think it was not that big of a deal. Others were there doing the same thing I was doing, taking their cameras down to what is usually one of the most bustling places on earth to see what it looks like during an outbreak. Some were conducting business as usual; a Transformer and Spider-Man in the big apple looking for people to take pictures with. I met a man who said this was the third day he’d have to close his hot dog cart early.
While standing underneath The Ball, waiting for something to happen to prompt me to go home and stop being cold, a man in a plague mask pushing a grocery cart with another man inside entered my vision. No, really. A cardboard sign on the side of the cart said, “Corpse Cartte” with a little skull drawn on the inside of the O. I wonder if there was any meaning to the misspelling. A part of me found it a little insensitive, another part found it a little funny. If you can’t find humor in times like these, I don’t know when you can.
After I took his picture, the man ditched the cart and started bounding up and down the bright red stairs behind me. He threw his hands in the air in different spooky postures so that the few remaining tourists could take his photo. He then re-united with his cart, his friend jumped back in, and they were off just like that. At least he’s having fun.
