Sedalia's Social Distancing - How Are We Doing At The Grocery Sto

You know that going to the grocery store is important in your life, obviously. And it's not part of the stay home order. So yes,you can go to the grocery store, but they ask that you keep it to a minimum and try to go only once every two weeks or so. Which I'm complying with, and that's the biggest change for me. Stopping by the Woods on the way home to pick up what ever we were gonna need for dinner that night has become routine. But that's kind of all I do, go to the store and then go home and stay home. I have to change with the times, though. Now, I gotta back off.

But the time came, it had to. Husbando and I needed enough that it warranted a trip to the store. I won't say which one, but I refer to it as The People's Republic of Walton. So off I went, with clean hands and ready to social distance. I get to the parking lot and all seems normal. I've heard about people throwing gloves out in the parking lot leaving wipes behind on the concrete, but I didn't see anything.

Getting up to the door, I saw it was cordoned off, and people were entering and being counted as they went in. I was a little hesitant so I backed off and let some other people in to allow for six feet distance. The couple that was coming in next to me weren't going to do it, they were just going to walk next to me, so I did.

Strike one.

Not on the store, but on us. Anyway. In I go, and I'm reaching for the wipe to get a cart. The helpful door greeters let me know they already had a row of carts ready that had been santized! Nice one, there.

So that's a bonus one, I guess.

Going in the store itself, it... seemed like most people were shopping as normal. Nobody was really over anywhere except for the grocery section, and for the most part people were just as polite as normal. No big rushes, no rudeness, no stockpiling (that I could see). I saw a few people in masks, at least four to six.

Bonus one! My mask is on the way. Once I get it, I'll wear one, too. I don't want to take one from a medical professional who needs it, so I've ordered a re-useable one you can throw in the laundry. Hopefully I won't need to use it long (crosses fingers).

I was careful to only touch things I intended on buying. I didn't do a lot of picking things up and putting them back down. I did it once on a bag of french fries. However, I did see some young people doing that A LOT while attempting to buy a snack. Like, they picked up almost everything in the whole display and talked about it, and then put it back down. Strike two. Or does that make it neutral again since we got another bonus? I waited six feet away til they were done so I could buy Husbando hummus.

I also noticed that yeah, some things were out, but some other sections were getting filled in again. I thought about it, and I wondered why we panic buy. Then it occured to me, some of it might not even BE panic buying. The kids have been at home for ages now, and some of them aren't having breakfast or lunch at school anymore. I bet some people have to buy more food than they normally do, namely the easy stuff kids can make themselves - like frozen pizza - because of that. And same deal if, for example, a family or a couple was used to going out to eat two times a week. If you're staying in to cook.... naturally you'd need more food at home. So I guess some of it is panic, but some of it is just... more mouths to feed.

So I get to the checkout and I decide I'm going to go with the real stocker as opposed to the self service because I have too much stuff and I don't want to put anybody out. I get to the lanes, and well, everyone was standing where they were supposed to, on the little demarcated lines on the floor. Bonus one. I waited my turn and stood at the end of the lane as directed. Then, the nice checker Karen (no, she wasn't one of Those Karens! Some of those ladies don't deserve that moniker, you know, lol) asked me if I was planning on paying with cash or card. I said card, and she asked me to wait just a moment. Then she came around while I was still at the end of the lane and used a wipe to clean the card reader. Bonus two!

I got my shopping done and paid for, and Karen even reminded me I'd almost forgotten my bag of Nanners for Husbando (As previously noted, I will always and forever hate bananas, so they were definitely for Husbando). Then the lady behind me in line just walked up right to the checkout and put her stuff down, maybe not even a foot from me. Strike.... three? No. Maybe.

There were three strikes, but four bonuses. So I guess in the end we came up positive. Overall, you could tell some people were taking it more seriously, but some people were not even trying. We need to do better, in my unasked for opinion. I will feel better when I see all employees getting gloves or masks if they have to deal with the public all day. I know I've seen hand sanitizer at checkouts for them, but I hope we can do more soon.

How are you helping to flatten the curve? Are you implementing social distancing? Are you wearing masks or bringing gloves with you? Do you keep a little bottle of hand sanitizer with you?

Cleanly yours,
Behka