Times have changed, dramatically. New South Wales recorded 18,278 COVID-19 cases today, while two people died.
Today I came outside to Macarthur Square to enjoy a coffee while I worked on the diary.
On the familiar walk towards Coco Cubano, I noticed four individual diners seated in the outside dining area. Four tables inside had modest gatherings of associates or friends together for lunch and a coffee. It looked like a nice atmosphere for people.
The Manager Discusses COVID-19 Effects
I ordered a large cappuccino from the front counter, then became seated on a green cushy, vintage chair adjacent to the folding glass door.
I opened my laptop and began to work. The coffee soon followed.
To my surprise, the manager of Coco Cubano came over to ask questions.
“Do you need anything else? Did they give you some sugar?”
“Sure. I could do with one sugar, thanks.”
It blindsided me that the manager came to serve me. As he walked to the front counter to grab a sugar satchel, I was confused with his sudden interest in me. He could see that I am a regular customer, one of the few faces he sees since lockdowns decimated the restaurants and hospitality industry during the coronavirus pandemic.
As we chatted away, I mentioned, “I saw that your business has picked up a bit.”
He confessed, “It hasn’t been too good. Boxing Day was very good. Tomorrow it’s a public holiday. Hopefully people will come out.”
I told him, “I’ll definitely get some of my friends to come down. I’ll recommend them to come down and just hang out.”
He smiled at me, nodded his head in appreciation and then left to go sit down at the main table next to the entrance.
Is The Diner Sick With COVID?
Everything was going normal in my mind. I was having a nice, relaxing moment with beautiful sunshine and balmy weather permeating outside.
Soon, I resumed work on the laptop. Seated to my right in the outdoors seated area were two ladies enjoying a chat.
As the two ladies prepared to get up, I heard one of them cough.
“Maybe we should get going now,” the lady said.
As they stood up, I had a look at them.
I was conscious with their being only two meters away and me being downwind of someone that’s coughing, the germs have probably passed onto me.
I thought, “If you have a cold or you’re sick with COVID, you shouldn’t be in here sitting down, spreading your germs.”
Naive People Sick With COVID
I could not believe how casual some people are. If Omicron is as bad as everyone says and you can catch Omicron literally by looking at other people, then people should stay home when sick.
These are the kinds of double vaccinated people that think they are six foot tall and bulletproof because the government told them that only unvaccinated people ever get sick and die.
It pissed me off.
Lax Diners During COVID-19 Pandemic
As I continued to drink coffee and do my work inside, within a few minutes I heard the old ladies seated in front and to the left of me cough as well.
That made me throw my head and eyes up into the air, as if to say, “Come on, people! If you are sick, don’t come out into the public to infect other people!”
I only stayed inside Coco Cubano for a further 15 minutes.
COVID-19 Symptoms In Supermarket Staff
From Macarthur Square, I drove to Woolworths to purchase groceries. As I walked around the aisles, I came across a portly, rectangular-shaped male staff member stacking shelves.
I asked him, “Do you know where the dry mashed potatoes are?”
As he answered me, I noticed his forehead was profusely dripping with sweat. Seeing those beads of sweat instantly made me defensive.
He directed me to the product, saying, “I think they are all sold out.”
As I thanked him and turned to leave, he began coughing out into his arm.
I thought, “Fuck! This guy is also sick! Look how fucking sick he looks!”
“They might come in a few days,” he pulled me up and attempted to talk to me as we both walked to the end of the aisle.
I walked away, facing away from him, saying, “Thanks.”
I had no face mask on, am vaccine free, healthy, and didn’t want to get whatever he had.
The exchange with the Woolworths staff member highlighted a new government policy introduced a few days ago regarding COVID-19 cases. The government stated that if you have COVID-19 but remain asymptomatic, you can still go to work.
What kind of stupid government policy is that to let people sick with Delta and Omicron still come to work where they can infect unvaccinated people like me and the rest of the community?
There are so many people walking around now sick as dogs, asymptomatic with COVID-19, but still working. What kind of government policy is that? It’s a really dumb policy.
Australia now feels like a huge Petri dish full of germs and sick people. I shopped as quickly as I could, so that I could close the lid on this problematic Petri dish that is Australia.
Diary Of A Mad Chaos is a daily diary written from March 1996 until today, of which individual books and book series have been created, namely “The Lost Years” an exploration of young, entwined love, the “Wubao In China (猎艳奇缘)” book series which provides an extensive comparative analysis of the cultural differences between Eastern and Western societies, and the book titled “Foreigner (华人)” an exploration of race relations in Australia.
