Tag: masks

Of course today was the day that our fearless leaders changed courses on masks, and wouldn’t you know that I felt compelled to go the grocery store?

I left for Wegmans just after dinner, after scrounging around for some kind of mask.  Last night I was able to order a few off of Etsy, but it will be a little while before they show up in my mailbox.  It was misting outside.   The gray sky darkened.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I looked toward the entrance for the notorious line of waiting shoppers.  A couple of friends had warned me in advance that Wegmans was restricting the number of customers allowed inside.  There was no one by my familiar entrance, so I rushed to park.  It was only just as I was a few yards away that I noticed my entrance was blocked off.  Signs said to go to the left.

That’s when I saw the line.

It was 7:10 p.m.  I knew that the store would close at 8:00, the same time as NJ’s “suggested” curfew.  The mist was getting heavy, and I wished for my umbrella. The wait wasn’t too long…maybe ten minutes.

Today there were no wipes for the cart. But there was hand sanitizer waiting by the door.  Once inside the entrance, I realized how different things were from last week.  There were many empty shelves and bins.  I had to figure out what was the most important items on my list and dash to those aisles first worried about time.

Most wore masks.  A few gloves.  One woman wore yellow cleaning gloves, just like the kind my mom would wear when she cleaned our childhood home.  The few who weren’t covered up either looked down, or shoved their shoulders back and spoke loudly, as if daring the rest of us to say anything.

A man would announce every five minutes the time and proclaimed that the store closed at 8:00 p.m., but it would be open tomorrow.  Each announcement pushed me faster down one aisle, then another, scanning my list and trying not to get distracted.  In the cereal aisle I had to ask for help getting Cocoa Krispies. This nice tall, maskless guy obliged me.  At 7:50, I felt ready to get in line.

But then I remembered that I needed fruit snacks for my quarantined tween.

It took me another five minutes to find them.

Then I dashed back into the checkout line that snaked past the cashiers and into the alcoholic beverages section of the store.  Being a bit stressed, I couldn’t help but gaze at the different beers, then the rows of wine bottles.

It was 7:57 by the time I reached the end of the line, and was instructed to aisle 16.  The cashier was exhausted.  She didn’t want to see me, or anyone else.  I figured she would have given anything for there to be no more customers so she could gather her belongings, and go home.

So I smiled.

She scowled a bit at the amount of stuff I had placed on the conveyor belt compared to my tiny cart.

I still smiled.

She gestured me forward to ask for my ID… one of the reasons I love Wegmans.  It’s not like I get carded any more.

By the time things were precariously perched in my petite cart, it was a little after 8:00 p.m.  I let my mask drop as I pushed the cart through the rain to my car.  The parking lot was nearly empty.

Driving home was weird. I had this feeling of doing something forbidden, yet there were lots of other cars on the road.  It reminded me of how often I have felt that we live in two worlds: those who are sheltering in place, and those who are not.

Now I’m not blaming anyone.  Not at all.  But it was not the first time that I felt how oddly normal the world seemed when I left the house.

Things feel disjointed.  Time has little meaning these days.  And the stress is ubiquitous.

Hope things get better soon.

Namaste