A little nervous as I headed to work last night. The county had declared a curfew in response to violence around Rochester after an otherwise peaceful march against police brutality.
As an essential worker, I was exempt from the restriction, but a police officer would have to stop me to find that out.
The roads were surprisingly busy. Hard to know if people were ignoring the curfew or rushing home to obey it. I passed a sheriff’s deputy, but wasn’t stopped. After pulling into the parking lot and donning my mask, I learned the store had closed an hour early.
Two women were at the main entrance, saying they had discovered a mouse and were desperate for steel wool. They hadn’t known about the curfew broadening from the city to the entire county, and they left without complaint.
Then I received a text saying animals had been let loose at the zoo.
What? By then, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had started to rain frogs.
Nor was I too surprised to learn that the zoo story was a hoax, possibly a diversion tactic.
The rest of the night passed quietly at the store, although not in the city or several suburbs, where looting and vandalism continued. It didn’t rain frogs. Chester the lion was safely in custody. The mouse could wait until morning.
Tonight, the curfew continues.