It’s a few months into the health crisis, and I’m at home with my family for the evening. The doorbell rings. I look outside — the upper half of my front door is normal transparent glass — and there’s a man standing there, maskless. My best guess is that he either wants to sell me something or ask me to sign a petition, but at this point, I don’t feel comfortable sharing air with a stranger, so I give him a little smile and wave but I don’t open the door.

He begins shouting through the door.

Salesman: “Hi, how are you this evening?”

Me: *Shouting back* “Good, thanks! Sorry, I’m not opening the door right now, but can I help you?”

Salesman: “Really?”

Me: “Yeah, sorry, I’m not really comfortable doing that! Can I help you?”

Salesman: “Man, you’re lame as h***.”

He then walked away before I could find out what he wanted. Good thing for him, too, because if I knew what company or organization he was working for, I probably would have given them a call about him.

We are in the middle of a lockdown. Masks are to be worn by everyone outdoors, and particularly when entering any shop or other venue. Patrons are also required to check in their name and phone number for tracking purposes, either by using a check-in app or other means.

I’m standing at the door, checking patrons in, when a rather large man strides importantly up to me and attempts to push me aside so he can enter. I politely bar his way.

Me: “Excuse me, sir, but you must wear a mask if you want to come in here, and you must check in, too.”

Patron: *Very aggressively* “No! Wearing a mask is blasphemy. It’s up to God to decide who gets, or doesn’t get, the disease, so wearing a mask is flouting God’s will!”

I’m trying not to get involved in a religious argument. 

Me: “Sir, the law requires you to wear a mask, regardless.”

Patron: *Getting more aggressive* “It is my human right to freedom of religious beliefs. If you force me to wear a mask, you are denying me my human rights!”

I’m not too sure where I stand legally on the situation.

Me: “Well, sir, I can’t allow you to come in. If you force your way in without wearing a mask or checking in, it is my duty to call the police. You can fight it out with them.”

Patron: “You haven’t heard the end of this! I am going straight to see my lawyer to make a complaint to the Human Rights Commission. You will hear more from them when they put you in prison for denying me my human rights!”

He strode rapidly away, leaving a number of other patrons asking what was going on. I simply shrugged and continued checking in the other patrons. I never heard any more about it.

We get many visits from teachers who bring their students to the library to borrow books. We ask that they call ahead before they come; that way, we can make sure we have enough staff to help them and prevent the place from getting too crowded. Some teachers are very good at this, but a lot of them just show up unannounced with twenty kids in tow during the busiest time of the day.

When the global health crisis hits, we get a lot of restrictions. For a period of time, we’re not allowed to be open to the public at all. The next step is to allow patrons inside but no large groups. Then, we accept groups but only at certain times, and they once again need to make an appointment.

A week or so ago, all restrictions in the country were lifted. We send out information to all the schools and preschools in the area that they still need to call ahead and make an appointment if they want to bring a group of kids, i.e. the same way things were supposed to have worked before the health crisis.

The first Monday we are open without restrictions, I have the opening shift at the information desk. Monday mornings are always crazy busy, but they’re usually manageable for one person. This Monday, however, there is a preschool class and their teacher standing outside the doors when I go to unlock them.

Me: “Good morning. Did you call ahead? You’re not in my calendar.”

Teacher #1: “No, but the restrictions are over. We don’t need to call ahead now, right?”

Me: “Actually, you’ve always had to call in advance. It’s for your sake as much as ours, to make sure you get all the help you need.”

Teacher #1: “Well, we didn’t know that, and the kids have been waiting for this visit for ages. We’ll call next time.”

It’s not a large group and they mostly take care of themselves, but I still get busy helping them find the books they want. A few minutes later, another group arrives. This group has made an appointment in advance and booked a guided tour, so my colleague comes out to meet them and show them around.

Ten minutes later, I hear noise from the entrance, look up, and discover an entire school class of ten-year-olds with their teacher. I go up to greet them the same way I greeted the first group.

Me: “Good morning. Did you call ahead? You’re not in my calendar.”

Teacher #2: “I tried to call, but no one picked up.”

Me: “Oh, I don’t see a note about that. When did you call?”

Teacher #2: “About five minutes ago when we got off the bus. We didn’t get an answer, so we figured it’d be okay. The restrictions are lifted anyway.”

The reason no one picked up five minutes ago is that I had a gaggle of children clinging to me and didn’t reach the phone in time.

Me: “We’ve always asked groups to call ahead and also to wait for confirmation that it’s okay to visit. As you can see, there are already two groups here, so it’s going to be crowded.”

Teacher #2: “Oh, well, we’ve come a long way so we can’t go back now. You need to give us better information in the future.”

The next half-hour is hectic, and everyone is grumpy — the group that did book in advance because they thought they’d get to visit in peace and quiet, and the two groups that just showed up because they aren’t getting help fast enough.

Teacher #2: “You know, if you’re going to have this many people in the children’s area at the same time, you need to have more librarians on duty to help out. We’ve had to wait for ages; it’s very inconvenient.”

Me: *With my very sunniest smile* “Yes, I agree, it’s very inconvenient. We were only expecting one group this morning, but instead, we got three. If only there was a way to prevent situations like this from happening!”

I have a 2007 car. The air conditioner randomly decided to stop working and only started up again as I started planning to take it to the mechanic to have it looked at. I’d been fighting it for about five years by the time this all started.

At the start of the second summer of the global health crisis, it finally died for good. Because I hadn’t been driving much since the crisis started, I ignored it for two weeks to see if it would start up on its own. It never did, so I set an appointment at my local dealership to have them check it out and prepared myself for the cost.

The first one they put in that day all but caught on fire; it smelled like burning plastic when they ran the air. The second one I had to wait until the following week to install since it would come in after they closed. The advisor was very apologetic but I told him that was fine. They put in a temporary unit with no promises it would get me through my next appointment — still no issue for me as I’d been driving around with no air conditioner in my car for two weeks at that point.

The second one they put in basically broke straight out of the box, so this time, I let them keep the car until they got the third replacement in at the end of the week. That one broke, too! It sounded like a death rattle regardless of how high we ran the air.

The advisor was all but falling over backward, clearly mad and embarrassed at the three broken fans. I let him know I was in no way mad at him and actually found the whole thing quite funny. He said that they had been using after-market parts since they’re cheaper but was going to order me a brand-new part from their warehouse three states over and waive the cost for me. He apologized that it was going to take a few days and said it would be best for me to drive with my windows down.

Five days later, it came in… and it worked! The advisor was still upset and embarrassed at the other parts but was happy to see I was pleased with his work.

I work for mobile vaccination units on busses that travel to various parts of the city to offer vaccines to people right on the side of the street. My job is basically to help patients with everything except the vaccination itself: run the line outside of the vehicles, register people, point them in the direction of a vaccinator once they’re ready, help them set up appointments if they need another dose, etc.

We do set up tents, chairs, and tables to try to make things as comfortable as possible, but due to the mobile nature of our sites, sometimes people are stuck standing in line outside.

As I am coming back from lunch one day, I see an elderly woman seated in the shade under one of our tents, a spot that people normally aren’t allowed to be in when we’re on lunch, with a fellow employee nearby. It’s clear that the employee has seen that she was uncomfortable standing in line and has allowed her to enter the tent area and sit until we were able to get back from lunch and register her. She seems content and as comfortable as possible considering the situation.

A man who I assume is her husband is pacing back and forth near the line and is absolutely fuming as I approach the tent.

Patient’s Husband: “Finally! Someone is here! She has been forced to wait outside in a long line like a dog! It’s inhumane!”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but due to our limited space and the fact that this is a medical site, the only place for the line is outside. And if waiting outside is uncomfortable or unhealthy for her, I encourage you to take her to a non-mobile site where she can wait inside. But our vaccinators are coming back from lunch right now; I’m sure we can get her registered and on her way as quickly as possible.”

Patient’s Husband: “This is unconstitutional! You can’t treat people like that! I’m a retired lawyer, and this is illegal!”

Me: “Sir, I’m not a lawyer, but I’m pretty sure that having a line outside isn’t unconstitutional. Not to mention, our sites are run by the city and they regularly check to see that we meet their standards. There is no question that nothing we’re doing is illegal, and we are doing what we can to make her comfortable.”

Patient’s Husband: “What’s your name?”

I provide my name.

Patient’s Husband: “Get ready for a lawsuit! I’m suing this whole operation, and your name is going to be on the suit!”

I can’t wait for the lawsuit in which a low-level city employee is named for the unconstitutional act of having an elderly woman sit in a chair in the shade.