Hello, my name is Craig McMillan and this is my restaurant.
[Ian Hanomansing] Working mom Alexis Wolski.
I am a mom to a very very active two and a half year old.
[Ian] Long-haul trucker Rick Witherall.
My biggest concern is the lack of personal protective equipment.
[Ian] And international student Ritika Dubey.
I've been so anxious in the past two weeks.
[Ian] They are just some of the Canadians trying to make sense of this new normal.
I started by asking Craig if he thought his restaurant might be able to reopen soon.
Well, I'm pretty lucky I have a fairly large dining room.
So I think that I could maintain separation.
A lot of small businesses don't have that ability
so I think that we will be able to do that
but I think it is gonna be slow going for a while.
We're going to see a reluctance on the part of people even if they do want to get out.
And we do need to be concerned about the knock-on effect of
having too many people close together and possibly causing another problem.
Yeah, Ritika, when when I saw you in your diary
you were talking about feeling pretty anxious, how do you feel now?
I feel very better right now.
I was thinking that I might not be able to complete my graduation
because my internship was postponed and we still don't know when it's going to happen
but then I'm graduating this week.
And at this moment I'm getting used to the whole staying at home thing
and like not being anxious and still finding my way through.
Rick, you're on the job right now.
Describe for us where you are and what's in your truck?
Oh, right now I'm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
I'm heading towards New Brunswick .
Basically what's in my truck is my things that keep me safe through the week
My hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes.
I basically cook most of my meals on my truck just to eliminate amount of times
that I have to leave my truck.
Has it been and I hate to use the word easy
because I'm sure very little out there is easy these days
but has it been relatively easy for you to keep your distance
and feel safe while you're out there doing jobs?
For the most part.
A couple times I've had individuals come a little too close to my comfort
and I basically just said, hey man
Please don't come too close.
He says, 'Oh yeah, I'm sorry, sorry.'
And so yeah but for the most part people are getting it.
I think both sides of the border
when you go into truck stops all the major truck stops
are really doing their due diligence when it comes to basically putting markers and stuff on the floor.
The showers are exceptionally clean.
They're going well beyond that which is great to see.
Alexis, you continue to work and parent from home.
How's that going?
I feel like we've reached maybe a a new normal in the house.
And I think my husband and I are getting more used to having everyone here.
I think he's acting out a little bit.
I think all parents will say that's happening now
as he understands that he's not going to daycare
we're not seeing friends and family
and when he doesn't get all of the attention he is acting a little bit out
but he's 2 and a half so I think it's to be expected.
But we're OK, we're just getting things day by.
It's all very inspiring to to listen to you.
Greg, the last thoughts from you.
I think it's interesting particularly in Alexis's case
that there will be some memories that come out of this for a lot of families.
They're becoming more familiar with their kids than they were before
and it may not all be bad.
I hope it's not and and that's good.
Ritika?
I think I just needed to change my perspective in this.
It's not just me who is suffering through this
and everybody's in the same boat.
At the moment I start looking at a different perspective things started making sense
and it is giving me happiness.
And Alexis?
I think everyone sounds a little less fearful and a little bit more a strong-willed
a little bit more courageous
so it sounds like we're all doing what's necessary to get through
and come out on the other side.
And I will actually really miss being with my family so much.
But we definitely are enjoying each other's company
and grateful to have eachother.
Listen to all four of you.
Thank you very much
and thank you for letting us kind of peek into your lives.