The CoronApocalypse.
This is the term my son has latched onto for these odd times. I’m sure he heard it somewhere online, but it made me chuckle. I know I should’ve written sooner and I don’t know why I didn’t. It just didn’t seem like the right time, and still doesn’t. I’m kind of curious to see what I end up saying by the end of this.
Online instruction will begin next week in our school district and my son’s teachers have challenged their students to start keeping a journal of things they thought, felt, and experienced as they will be a “primary source” for this historic occurence. That was a kick in the stomach for me and now I feel guilty for not posting.
As introverts, this is easy-peasy. Afterall, we’ve been preparing our whole lives for this! Well, sort of. I am certainly not lacking in the mental focus it will take to shelter-in-place, but nothing prepared me for the shift in social procedure when I did have to go out for supplies. At one store, there were blue lines taped to the floor at the check out to ensure you were far enough apart from the person in front of you. When it was my turn, I was not allowed to empty the items of my cart onto the conveyer. The cashier instructed me to push my cart forward and then stand behind the line while she rung up my items via wireless scanner. For payment, she backed up six feet from her register and then allowed me to step up to the credit card reader. Once I could remove my card, I had to again step behind the line before she would return to the register to retrieve my receipt (which she put in the cart in lieu of handing it to me) and then retreat to her six foot distance while I moved through to box up my items.
Ok, I do get why this is necessary to keep from spreading the virus, and I have no problem complying, but it was just such a change from the usual routine of buying groceries that it threw me off, and I’m wondering what else has changed out there. There’s also the unknown of if it will ever change back to “BC” (Before Coronavirus) once the danger is gone. Now there’s a scary question.
Hi Beth! As I was boxing up my items (it’s a box-your-own-stuff place), there was a lady that was sitting by the door with her mask and gloves on. She was holding up her phone and it was pointed in my direction. My overthinking had me paranoid that she was recording me and was going to post somewhere that I was the crazy lady that was spreading the disease by not wearing gloves and a mask. When I passed her by, though, she was on a video call with someone else and was holding the phone up so her face was visible. HA HA!
We went for a few groceries today too. Not quite as “rigid” as your experience. Of course, a lot smaller store. The workers & cashiers all had masks — although homemade of cloth. Some also wore gloves. All kept their distance as did I. I miss the normal friendliness. I hope it returns to BC soon. 😒