COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Diary
I hadn't been back to Shoprite in about 2-3 weeks, and things had changed decidedly since my last visit. While the shopping crowd wasn't back to normal, e.g., a line at the deli counter, it had definitely stepped up from coming across an occasional shopper or 2 down long aisles, and all the self-checkout kiosks were in use. The store still had notices up requesting one family member shopping at a time, but for the first time in a while, I saw a couple of little kids (like 1-3 years old) wearing adorable little face masks. (I just adore little kids; as the song goes, "I believe the children are our future".)I went down the paper goods aisle and was utterly shocked by the change. Over the last few visits, I was used to almost empty aisle shelves, mostly stocked with maybe a few dozen napkin bundles and a minor section stocked with single rolls of recycled paper toilet paper with posted purchase limits. This time I saw shelves maybe 75% stocked, with a plentiful supply of generic multiple roll packs, even several packages of name brands like Charmin and Angel Soft. I wouldn't describe the supply of the latter as plentiful, but I probably hadn't seen any at the store in several weeks.
This time I didn't really see that many patchy shelves; there was one item on my shopping list (dry soup) they were sold out of, but that sore of thing often happens in normal times. Familiar readers probably know I'm fond of grass-fed beef. I hadn't seen their Australian-sourced bargain steak cuts (i.e., under $10/lb) since before the crisis; of all things, I found multiple packages buried in the middle of the fresh fruit and veggie section. The packages were small (maybe a half-pound), and I limited my purchase to the posted 2-package limit of fresh beef.
It looks like Gov. Hogan (R-MD) has relaxed his Stay-at-Home order (I'm a critic) to a Safer-at-Home regimen. It depends on your location in the state. Baltimore is effectively its own county and as densely populated remains under stricter guidelines. In other counties, like mine, some shops will be allowed to reopen to a fraction of normal capacity, with mask-wearing protocols, etc. It's odd the kinds of things you miss under recent circumstances; with me, in particular, it's not having had my hair cut in several weeks (well, it's been fairly thin as I've gotten older; it has more to do with keeping it in manageable length). I got an email yesterday from a salon saying they were reopening and talking reservations. Reservations? At least in my experience, you drop in at a barber shop.
