This is a Coronavirus Blog Now: Watch

At the beginning of the month, I took an old Timex watch to Fred Meyer jewelers in Bothell. It needed a battery. The clerk said since it was waterproof, they needed to send it out, it might take a couple of weeks and they would call me when it was ready.
On the 16th, they called and said it was ready to pick up any time. I thanked them and said I was working from home, not in Bothell anymore, but I did want to come by.
Three days later, they called again to say they had reduced hours but I could still come in. I told them I had in fact gone the previous night and while the grocery was still open, the jewelry part was gated shut. They promised to hold on to it.
Today, March 24, they called a third time and said the store would be closed indefinitely but my watch was safe and would be there when they reopened.
Each time, it was as if in the face of everything, they wanted to do the best job they could and pack every bit of care and concern into this tiny, insignificant interaction, as if that could mean everything -- and as if our agreement that they would be there and I would come in meant that everything would be OK.

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