By EMMA SPORLEDER, student reporter
The young woman had just walked back to gas pump No. 1 when she noticed the burly older gentleman with salt and pepper hair.
They exchanged polite smiles, the kind that never really reach your eyes, and continued pumping gas into their respective cars. As the machine pumped cheap gas into the vehicles the man was the first to speak.
“Isn’t this such a scary time?” asked the man, who seemed to be around 70 years old.
“You know, it really is! I’ve never gone through something like this before,” replied the young woman who was somewhere in her mid-20s.
The scary time they referred to was of course the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., a time when people wore facemasks to the store and lock downs were mandatory in certain states.
As they continued their polite discussion, like strangers do, both parties voiced concerns that they had.
The man was worried about how rapidly the virus was spreading. He didn’t know what advice to take. Was he supposed to wear a facemask? What about gloves? He had heard that corona virus spread the fastest with gas pumps, where all the unwashed hands touched.
The young woman was worried for her friends who now had to take all of their college courses entirely online. She was upset that she wouldn’t be able to see her brother walk at his high school graduation because it was canceled. She hadn’t seen her family in person for three weeks, just to make sure she kept them safe.
Although these strangers had never met before this day, they did have one thing in common. When the gas pump popped, letting them know their tank was full, they had the same parting words for one another.
“Have a good day. Be careful, take care of yourself and God bless.”