Project Location | Middle East, Canada, Niagara Falls
Production Date | 2020-02-05
Upon the onset of the novel virus COVID-19, there was a sudden surge in the sale of hand-sanitizer and toilet-paper here in Canada and abroad. I distinctly remember going to one of the major department stores in April and finding the paper product aisle empty. It was as if we had run out of trees or something. Soon after, other essential products began to vanish. People were in some crazed frenzy to stock up on non-perishables. It was surreal, like a scene from one of those dystopian “end of the world” movies. The media did not help either by exacerbating the whole affair and putting us all on edge.
Fortunately, I did not get sucked into the hype. But it goes to show how fragile our society and sense of security are, and like the maxim says: “civilization is four square meals away from anarchy.” Imagine if things had been worse, how would people behave then? Would they start beating each other over a few leftover scraps of tissue paper, would they rob each other at gunpoint for some canned beans, would a criminal syndicate form that illegally distributes contraband hand-sanitizer? I don’t know, but I hope I’m not here to see it.
