Quarantine life: Supermarket status
Apr. 8th, 2020 02:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistlechaserFor the first time in two weeks, I went shopping. Major chain, went to just one store.
For some products, things were better. There were eggs this time (limit one package per customer). There were two packs of store brand paper towels (same limit, so two people could get a pack before they were completely out). There were no totally empty aisles, though a few mostly empty.
Some things were the same. No toilet paper of any kind. Prices were generally higher than usual, with almost no sales. Meat prices seemed especially high.
There were still almost no cleaners. There were maybe six containers of laundry soap (up from zero last time). I was able to get Comet (which had been on my list), but that was about the only cleaner in stock other than toilet bowl cleaners, so I was pretty lucky.
The chain I went to (Safeway) had one-way aisles set up, so you could only go up one and down the next. A lot of people made mistakes, me included once. Because of the cloth I was using as a mask (sort of like a bandana, but homemade), I couldn't see directly below me so well, so I missed the arrows sometimes. Plus honestly I'm just used to being able to walk up and down whatever aisle I want, so if I didn't consciously think about it, I forgot they were one-way.
My mask had seemed great at home, but once I was in the store and moving around, it was pretty bad. I had to keep adjusting it, which means my fingers kept brushing my face...
Because of the time I went (about 10 AM), there was no line to go in. There was someone wiping down carts as you go in (though in my case it was wasted. I pushed a cart over, he wiped it down, then I went inside... so my hands had already touched the dirty handle).
Not a bad trip, all things considered. My shopping list was pretty small, and I got everything I had gone for.
Next week I might try to go to Costco. That will likely be more of an adventure.
For some products, things were better. There were eggs this time (limit one package per customer). There were two packs of store brand paper towels (same limit, so two people could get a pack before they were completely out). There were no totally empty aisles, though a few mostly empty.
Some things were the same. No toilet paper of any kind. Prices were generally higher than usual, with almost no sales. Meat prices seemed especially high.
There were still almost no cleaners. There were maybe six containers of laundry soap (up from zero last time). I was able to get Comet (which had been on my list), but that was about the only cleaner in stock other than toilet bowl cleaners, so I was pretty lucky.
The chain I went to (Safeway) had one-way aisles set up, so you could only go up one and down the next. A lot of people made mistakes, me included once. Because of the cloth I was using as a mask (sort of like a bandana, but homemade), I couldn't see directly below me so well, so I missed the arrows sometimes. Plus honestly I'm just used to being able to walk up and down whatever aisle I want, so if I didn't consciously think about it, I forgot they were one-way.
My mask had seemed great at home, but once I was in the store and moving around, it was pretty bad. I had to keep adjusting it, which means my fingers kept brushing my face...
Because of the time I went (about 10 AM), there was no line to go in. There was someone wiping down carts as you go in (though in my case it was wasted. I pushed a cart over, he wiped it down, then I went inside... so my hands had already touched the dirty handle).
Not a bad trip, all things considered. My shopping list was pretty small, and I got everything I had gone for.
Next week I might try to go to Costco. That will likely be more of an adventure.
