Day 28 and how we shop these days

I talked with my Mom on the phone during my morning walk today. The 3 hour time difference means being creative when finding a time to talk. Like me, she is an introvert and really enjoys her "alone time", so the quarantine isn't as onerous for us as for some people. On the other hand, she is really independent, like me, and much prefers to do her OWN errands, thank you very much! We commiserated about how hard it can be to have someone else shop from your grocery list: no, actually, I prefer *that* brand of rice; thank you, but I'd really rather have hard, crisp pears, not the soft, mealy ones.

At least I can do my own grocery shopping, but so differently now. Before, I would walk a couple of blocks to the store every day or so and carry home just a few items. Now, the store has "Senior Only Hours", Tuesday and Thursday between 6 and 9 am. So, first, I have to get up at 5:45 am instead of 7. And I have to take the car because I can't carry a week's worth of groceries in my hands. All week long I add to my shopping list and if I forget to write an item down, I usually forget to buy it and have to wait another week.  🙁

The procedure at the grocery store is bizarre as well. At the door is a person with a clicker counter, ticking off the number of people entering the store. When the magic number (undisclosed) is reached, you have to wait in line outside the store (6' apart) until someone leaves. There is a bottle of hand sanitizer on a table next to the counting person and you wipe down your hands and the handle of the cart. Lately, shoppers not wearing face masks have been turned away too. Once inside the store, there is no more wandering hither and yon. The aisles are one way only, up one, down the next -- at least I am getting my "steps" in.

The new etiquette is that you don't overtake and pass another shopper in the aisle. Shopping hell is to be behind an old dear with her health aide trying to decide between 2 different brands of spaghetti sauce -- the only 2 jars on the shelf.  Sometimes a polite "excuse me" will get everyone to turn backs to the center of the aisle and you can slip by; other times it will earn you a furious glare.

There are still shortages of many items and lots of "1 to a customer" or "2 to a customer" signs on the shelves by the eggs, flour, toilet paper, or whatever is short this week.

Fresh meat and fish is limited too. Yesterday, a Midwest meat packing plant closed because one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19; this will have a big impact on the availability of pork, nationwide.

My friend remarked that her store was out of mushrooms but DID have bread flour so ... score! She was headed next to Trader Joe's and then to a bodega. That reminded me of shopping when I lived in a small town in Guatemala. Meat and fresh vegetables from the Mercado Central, then over to the bodega a block away for peanut butter, bread and cereal; then some things we only bought once a month when we took the truck into the Capitol.

Strange days.