Friday evening around 8:00pm. Tired professionals should have been driving home or to meet friends at a local restaurant or bar. But instead the street was empty. I stood there in the middle of Lancaster through two cycles of green-yellow-red, green-yellow-red. On one side a Chevy van sat empty with its flashers blinking. On the other side, a Toyota Prius jutted out from between two buildings, its flashers silently signaling to the van’s. Perhaps they were meant to pick up food for those professionals who haven’t been into the office for weeks.
The sidewalks are empty, as are the restaurants and bars. Yet all the restaurants and bars are lit up as if waiting for customers to return. I feel like I’m in an episode of The Twilight Zone in which all the people have suddenly vanished, leaving me to wander the streets alone.
Welcome to the new normal in Ardmore.