Water Crisis
Lethbridge is going crazy right now.
Because the snow melted so quickly, the river had too much debris in it for the water treatment plant to handle. The city had to issue a water boil order, along with asking everyone to limit water consumption. Laundromats, swimming pools, ice rinks, and car washes have all been shut down, and friends of mine who work in coffee shops and restaurants have told me lots of stories about how they're trying to stay afloat. (Apparently, Boston Pizza was suuuuper busy yesterday. Because if there's no water at home, OBVIOUSLY the restaurants will have some.)
This morning I woke up and found this in my kitchen:
I thought it was kind of funny.
Our family cabin is up in the Canadian Shield and the only water available is from the lake. And we have to boil it on a wood-burning stove. So boiling water is nothing new to me. Once we got the order, I knew the drill.
No dishwasher? We boil water and wash dishes in a tub.
No washing machine? Good thing I did laundry on Monday.
No thorough showers? Deodorant.
I guess I just find it sort of comical, because I'm like a weird amalgamation of city kid and farm kid, and my family has always placed a great deal of emphasis on self-reliance and preparedness. Plus, when you're a Mormon, they teach you about how important being prepared is from the time you're really small. My family has a storage room in the basement that is our "food storage". It has huge shelves filled with non-perishable food, flour, and things my mom cans from our garden. Mom also keeps things like extra toothpaste, toilet paper, and soap, just in case there's ever an emergency. Sometimes we even had gallons of water saved.
I've tried to do some of these things on my own too, and it has really helped me when money is tight or when there's a blizzard and I can't get to the store. Seeing empty shelves at Walmart during a crisis, even a small one like this, just makes me realize how lucky I am to have the upbringing I did.
We're really not that bad off, yo.
Calm yo'self.
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