The following is my 3/25/20, entry in my COVID-19
journal. I’ve been keeping it since the
beginning. I thought that this one was
fit for human consumption…
3/25/20
Dan and I went out to Shoprite to replenish some
supplies. Dan wore a Pokémon bandana as
a facemask. It was not out of fashion;
nearly half of the other shoppers were wearing masks of some sort. There were plenty of latex gloves in use,
too. Shoprite has remained a beacon of
hope in the community. Seriously. All the grocery and convenience stores that
have stayed open and continue to operate are.
After all, if the stores are open then things can’t be all
bad—right? Right.
Shoprite has made some changes. There are signs that say to maintain 6 feet
distance in the front of the store. They
have changed their hours to 7:00 am – 9:00 pm.
Disinfectant is being used by cashiers and, the young lady who checked
us out spray cleaned the conveyor belt and was wiping it down as she beckoned
us into her lane. There are plexiglass
barriers between the cashier and customer now.
It is that way for all points of purchase—except for self-checkout.
“Did you find everything you were after?” she asked.
“More or less, I’d say.” I said, looking at the newly
installed force fields. “These are a
good idea.” I said.
“Yes, although maybe they could be a little bigger.” She
replied. I took a look and, yes, she’s
right, maybe they could. They were
erected at the place where the customer is closest to the cashier and not at
the card-pad. “How have you been making
out in all this?” she asked us.
“Oh, we’ve been okay. How about you?”
“I’m the one who does the shopping for my grandmother and
me.” She said. “I get home, see to things, and then go get what she needs—if we
don’t have it already.”
“That’s very good of you.” I said. She’s a good kid, doing the best she can
presented with the circumstances as they are.
“I’ve seen some things here,” she stated. “I had a woman
throw chicken at me.”
“That’s horrible!” Dan exclaimed.
“Yeah. I told her that Shoprite had a “one package per
person” limit on certain items—including chicken. She got so mad that she threw it at me.”
“Times like these bring out the best and the worst in
people.” I said. “That’s assault.”
“That’s true. It’s
why there are security guards roaming the store now.”
“Really?” Dan asked.
“Oh, yeah.” She said.
“They must be good,” I volunteered, “I never even saw
them.” For some reason or another, I was
thinking that stealth may be beneficial at times as a member of a peacekeeping
security force. …And then it hit me how
much things have changed in such a short amount of time. Two weeks ago, these factors—the 6-foot rule,
the masks, the barriers, the security guards—all of it, was to be found in
science fiction and not in the ‘real world’, whatever that is. It hit me that this was the new normal and
would be for some time.
We bid each other the best and went on our way. She’s a good kid and, most certainly,
deserves better than being attacked by a panic-stricken woman who can’t have
two trays of chicken because there are other people in the world besides her.
“Thank you for all that you’re doing.” Dan said as we
took our leave from her. “Stay safe.”
“You, too.” She said as we left.
So, young lady who checked us out at Shoprite this
morning, thank you. And, once again, to
all the workers who are serving their communities at this time, THANK YOU. You are not and never have been, “just a
cashier”, you are a reminder of the normal that was and may be again. You are hope and there is no price tag on
that.
To my fellow customers, remember, you/we are not the only
ships out on the ocean. There is a light
at the end of the tunnel, and we can get there together—in one piece—if we
think of others as we are thinking (and shopping) for ourselves.
Let’s be good to each other out there. A little kindness, some reason, and social distancing will help us through to the other side of this pandemic.
So, thank you to the common everyday people who have been
deemed essential—the woman who checks you out at the grocery or convenience
store, the medical staff—the nurses and doctors doing everything they can to
keep people healthy, EMS workers, the people keeping the electricity going—the linemen
and everyone else who stands behind them keeping the juice flowing, the fire
and police, the garbage collectors, all the people that we don’t see and take
for granted for the mere fact that we don’t see them. Everyday life is ‘normal’ because of what
they do. “Normal” is a relative term,
these days. Each of those listed here
have become heroes just by showing up to work.
Society works because they do. There
is NOTHING common about the common man, there never has been.
Your efforts have not gone unnoticed.
Thank you, one and all.
Stay safe, stay healthy.
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