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9 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,M ay 27,2021 w aterloochronicle.ca May 25-29, 2021 Weekly Specials Store Made Spinach & Feta Chicken Sausage 5/pkg Fresh Pork Bone-in Butts Store Made Turkey Pepperstix 10/pkg Fresh Lean Boneless Blade Roasts Store Made Buffalo Chicken Kabobs Store Made Jumbo Beef & Pork Wieners Store Made Pre-Cooked Oktoberfest Sausage Store Made Deli Sliced Smoked Corned Beef Store Made Deli Sliced Hunters Loaf 519-699-45903031 Lobsinger Line, HeidelbergMon-Wed 8-6; Thurs-Fri 8-8; Sat 7:30-5 $4.25 ea Reg $4.75 ea $3.49 lb Reg $3.99 lb $4.49 lb Reg $4.99 lb $6.99 pkg Reg $7.99 pkg $3.99 lb Reg $4.99 lb $4.99 pkg Reg $5.99 pkg $8.99 lb Reg $9.99 lb $8.99 lb Reg $10.49 lb $6.99 lb Reg $7.99 lb Store Made Beef Burgers 12 x 4 oz $17.99 box Reg $19.99 box Do you want to work in a fast paced, exciting and growing industry? Roadtrek Inc., a local manufacturer of camper vans is Hiring Production Members to join our team! If you are looking for a great place to work, in an exciting and fun industry, we want to hear from you! Located just off the 401 in Cambridge, we offer long term career opportunities, day shifts, bonus incentives and competitive benefits package all in a new, bright and clean manufacturing facility. Visit www.roadtrek.com/careers or send your resume to hr@roadtrekinc.com Anti-lockdown rallies are growing in both frequency and volume in the region, while sup- porters of such rallies are increas- ing their efforts to confuse and distract. For example, some would like you to believe that those who at- tended an anti-lockdown rally in Waterloo on Mother's Day are no different than those who chose to pay a physically-distanced visit to their mother on the same day. While it is true that, by the let- ter of Ontario's stay-at-home law, both events -- a rally of hundreds of unmasked people, and a drive- way visit with Mom -- were out- side the rules, to try to compare the behaviours is patently absurd. In one case you have a large crowd of unmasked strangers, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, while in the other you have a handful of family members, six feet or more apart, having a con- versation with a loved one. If anything, this comparison highlights the choices we've been asked to make during the pandem- ic. Our governments, rather than trusting us to make decisions that were in the best interests of our- selves and of our neighbours, chose to take a strict approach to pandemic guidance. Perhaps thinking that "if we give them an inch, they'll take a mile," the gov- ernment gave us no leash at all, possibly on the assumption that we'd take the inch. Most of us have. We have come to understand that driveway visits or trips to the park with a few friends, while technically against the rules, hold very little risk of transmitting CO- VID-19. And while we do engage in these low-risk behaviours, we'll look with disdain at those who choose a higher risk. So, no, attending an anti-lock- down rally with hundreds of other people is not the same as paying a distanced visit to Mom on Moth- er's Day. We may have a church in our region that publicly flouted CO- VID-19 protocols and continued to hold in-person services -- even to the point its doors were locked -- but we recognize that the offend- ing church is an outlier among the thousands across the country that are worshipping virtually. The same could be said for business. While pandemic restrictions have forced too many businesses to close and left countless others struggling to survive and accu- mulating a mountain of debt, rather than defy the orders of pub- lic health, most businesses have soldiered on. Our community, through its actions, has spoken on the issue. Over the past 15 months, we have created a new set of social norms that demonstrate our shared ex- pectation of what is acceptable be- haviour during the pandemic. For most of us, that means avoiding large gatherings, wear- ing a mask, and maintaining a physical distance from others of at least two metres. Attendees to anti-lockdown rallies and other such public pro- tests have chosen to deviate from what our community has estab- lished as the pandemic expecta- tion. As firm as they may be in their convictions, protesters must rec- ognize that they have chosen to go against the norms established by the vast majority of their neigh- bours in our community. Don't be fooled by all the noise of late. If the volume is too loud, you can always turn it down. Columnist Mike Farwell is a broadcaster, MC and advocate. Follow him on Twitter at @far- well_WR, or connect with him via Mike.Farwell@rci.rogers.com. OPINION ANTI-LOCKDOWN RALLY ATTENDEES GOT IT WRONG A large crowd gathered in Uptown Waterloo for an anti-lockdown rally on Mother's Day, Sunday May 9. Laura Booth phtoto MIKE FARWELL Column