a pandemic rant!

OK, here comes the rant.
         I sing with The Midlandaires band each week at our local Legion. Or should I say, used to sing: the damn pandemic has put the kibosh on that and we haven’t performed there since February. Anyway, our other singer, Gord, and I decided to assemble a concert that we’d stage at seniors residences in our area. The idea is that these folks are missing seeing family and friends in the lockdowns they’re forced to endure and we felt we could bring a little delight to their lives with music we know they’d recognize and enjoy.
         We put the word out and one of the area residences immediately booked us for a concert. We were pleased, knowing the seniors there would get some welcome relief from the “pandemic blues”. But on the day before the event, and only because I emailed the lady there to confirm our arrival time, she emailed back to say that they’ve canceled all their events. Gotta tell you, both Gord and I were a little chagrined that this individual hadn’t seen it worthwhile to advise us about this new policy sooner, given the rehearsals and logistics planning we’d devoted to staging this event. But, you suck it up and move on, right? Right!
         Then, a couple of weeks later, I receive an email from the same lady saying they’ve lifted their lockdown process: would we be available to stage our concert on November 25 (today)? Once again, Gord and I were pleased to know we’d be able to entertain the hapless seniors there and readily accepted.
         So, fast forward to this morning when the lady (you’ll note I’m avoiding using her name to save her embarrassment, although I’m not sure why!) responds to my email from yesterday, just reminding her of our arrival timing (45 minutes before show time to set up our amps, speakers, microphones, mic stands, lyric stands, computers, etc., all of which we’ve packed in each of our vehicles). She has the gall to say the concert’s been canceled because they’ve scrapped their recreation programs. Like they’ve just made that decision this morning!? C’mon! She couldn’t have given us some warning? You know, so we could have avoided doing a dress rehearsal for several hours yesterday! And we could have avoided assembling all the gear required to run an event like this, and packing it into our vehicles! You know, and planning around travel logistics for the day, etc.!
         Covid-19 is bringing about strange times. But there’s no excuse for showing zero respect to people who are trying to be helpful and considerate of others in these challenging times. And that just leaves me and Gord feeling pretty somber when all we’d hoped was to be putting smiles on people’s faces today.
         For shame!

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