April 6, 2022
Day L6: Silent Protests Over Food
While doing yet another stealth garbage run at night, I began to notice something off. Was there even a need to act stealth? I saw several people chilling out and they didn't bat an eye when seeing me. This had gone on for several days already. Moreover the guys in the white hazmat suit were nowhere to be found and we learned their shift ended around 7pm. After a few more messages I found out people were walking their dogs and doing all the outdoor stuff late at night. And indeed the weather was fabulous! This was the only freedom we'd get, so breaking the rules had to be done late at night and lots of people were doing that.
A detailed look at the data shows that covid cases are even decreasing in the downtown area where we live and it was never hit all that hard. Meanwhile for those in the suburbs it's an entirely different story. Daily cases are still going up. I had a chat with a friend living out there and he told me they've begun sealing individual house doors in the housing units in the compound. Even so, the rules never apply to the officials making them.
Meanwhile, back to the food shortages. This was becoming more and more serious and one person in a suburban compound put forward a silent protest as you'll see in the next picture.
So today was, of course, another round of mass covid testing. The weather was amazing and beautiful. I relished the long queue so the weather could be enjoyed more.
As for how long this lockdown goes it's anyone's guess. What we do know is that if compounds are to be released from lockdown, even on a staggered basis, then everyone would make a mad rush to the nearest supermarkets. If I was the emperor for a day, I would go all out immediately to fix the delivery debacle and make sure that all restaurants, grocery stores, and delivery vehicles are operating at excess capacity to supply the compounds with food all over the city. Once some sort of stable system is set up, then compounds could gradually release based on covid cases and also have police stationed nearby the grocery stores to keep order. The stores themselves would need to set and enforce limits on how much you can buy to avoid hoarding, and also set up metering systems.
For a regime as we know the one is here, you would think they're quite aware that food supply disruptions are a major source of social unrest. Yet, defying all logic, they really don't care. What I suspect is that they want us to have zero contact with the food deliveries because of the risk of covid spreading from the drivers via the food packages.
Not long after the late night garbage run, my wife got a phone call from the owners of a food shop around the corner she had made friends with. The owners were also willing to break the rules and do a large grocery order. Obviously the prices were inflated, but they were willing to take the risk. The operation had to be fast and discreet. As the phone call went, they said, "We're moving out, get to the gate fast." We all got the order delivered by ourselves as soon as possible.
According to the rules, all stores and restaurants remain locked down. Thankfully our area is less strict with enforcement and we can still pull this stuff off at night. But in the suburbs, no way. They place seals on the doors of businesses and forbid them to operate, in much the same way as the pictures above with the residences.
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