Monthly Archives: May 2020

Day 40 – To Mask or Not to Mask? The Question of the day


Here in Quebec, the likelihood that wearing a mask in public will someday soon be mandatory is getting closer and closer to reality.

There is talk of opening day cares and elementary schools – not because the virus is under control (it’s most definitely NOT) – but because so many parents need to be able to go back to work, and that can’t happen until there is some kind of day care for younger kids.

Today they opened schools outside of Montreal – and we are all waiting to see how that goes. The schools that have been open are splitting schedules to keep class sizes small, and doing everything they can to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

But conversations with friends who are teachers reveals how fraught feelings are in this regard. Parents have been told that they don’t ‘HAVE’ to send kids back – it’s optional. So my teaching friends are wondering – what do they do with a kid who doesn’t finish – fill in the blank – grade? Pass them anyway. I’m guessing yes.

Anyway – Jokes about masking are making the rounds of the internet – and I share my favourites below:

Facemasks for Dummies (from my sister)
If we all run around naked and someone pees on you, you get wet right away. If you are wearing pants, some pee will get through, but not as much. So you are better protected.
But if the guy who pees also is wearing pants, the pee stays with him and you do not get wet.
Is that clear enough?

And to share some more Jokes.. Always a pleasure – here you go…

If you answer the phone with “Hello, you’re on the air!” Most telemarketers will quickly hang up…

Whe one door closes and another door opens, you are probably in prison.

To me ‘drink responsibly’ means don’t spill it.

When I say “the other day”, I could be referring to any time between yesterday and 50 years ago.

Interviewer: “So, tell me about yourself”. Me: “I’d rather not.. I kinda want this job”

I remember being able to get up without making sound effects…. Good times.

Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn’t fit any of your containers… (This explains a lot!)

Sixty might be the new forty, but 9:00 is the new midnight

I finally got 8 hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.

I run like the winded.

When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, “Why, what did you hear??”

When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?

I don’t mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.

And finally…

It’s the start of a brand new day, and I’m off like a herd of turtles…

Signing off to see about buying masks – The Soup Lady

Day 39 – Sometimes Lucky is better than Smart


AKA – “Bridge was their Passion. Then People started to Die”.

That’s the title of a NY Times piece by Jack Healy published on April 29 – it’s the story of how Covid-19 did a number on a Bridge Club in Denver. Starting with one sick 83 year old (who died), contact tracing showed she’d come in close contact with 100 other people at the bridge club. Funerals, weddings, Choir Practice and family gatherings then provided for an uncontrolled spread of the virus . That Bridge Club became Ground zero for Covid-19 in that section of Denver.

And there – but for Luck – certainly not Smarts – go I.

I love playing bridge – and I have two favorite bridge clubs. For those wondering what a Bridge Club might be – it’s a place that holds regularly scheduled competitive (or not so competitive) games of bridge.

To play bridge at a club, you sit at tables of 4. Trays – called boards – holding the cards are circulated from table to table – and every 3 boards the pair sitting E/W get up and change tables. In effect – every person is exposed to every other person – well under any Social Distancing measure. And worse – the cards are held by every other person sitting in your direction at the match.

Plus – there are always snacks – with folks gathering to help themselves.

To make sure a Bridge Club is a perfect storm for Covid-19 – most bridge players are seniors, many in frail health, lots with compromised immune systems.

So if one person had contracted the disease – every person in the room would have almost certainly been exposed.

So why the Lucky? When I’m in Montreal – I play bridge almost daily at our club – and our club is located in one of the epi-centres for the disease in Montreal.

So why didn’t I get exposed? Because as you know from reading my blog – I was in St. Croix celebrating my husband’s 70th birthday. There’s only one tiny bridge club on the island, and with my kids there – playing bridge wasn’t happening for me. So I just never went.

My last day playing bridge at my club was March 7. Just before the Covid-19 fan hit the fire. Lucky – not smart!

Back to the story by Jack Healy. He reports that the 83 year old woman went to a sectional held at the Colorado Springs Bridge Center from Feb 27 to March 3. Over 150 people were there – and no one was taking any precautions.

And bridge is the ultimate of social games. You snack, you chat, you handle cards handled by other people, you handle the boards, you all touch the machines that record the scores. It’s almost impossible to imagine how a bridge club wouldn’t be a hot bed of Covid-19 infection.

And in the Colorado Springs Bridge Center – our game and our lack of concern cost 4 members their lives, and at least 25 others have spent over a month fighting symptoms of the virus.

So what of the future of bridge clubs? Right now, everyone is playing bridge on line – and our local clubs are setting up ‘Virtual’ clubs so that some income will come in – they still must pay the rent if they rent space.

But in the long run – hand sanitizer isn’t going to work. We’ll all have to wear masks, not come in sick or even with mild symptoms, we’ll have to have on gloves, and I’m not sure how to spread us further apart easily – bridge tables are generally 4’ squares at the most.

My guess – Bridge Clubs may well become a think of the past. And that’s a shame. For many going to the Bridge Club for a daily game gave their lives meaning and structure. Something to do when the weather wasn’t great – or even if the weather was good.

And for those seriously frail – it was safe. You could avoid moving too much by sitting North/South, you could even arrive and depart in a wheel chair. And your friends were there. You could gossip a bit while waiting for the game to start, you could share Grand-kid stories.

Bridge Clubs – RIP – a victim of Covid-19

Signing off to play bridge on-line – The Soup Lady