I finally said enough is enough and went for a grocery run. No list, so I over bought. I’m worried some of it will go to waste. If it does, I’m changing things up drastically. Wasting food never feels good, now it seems irresponsible.
But yes, I’m happy to have eggs, veggies, beans, and some fruit back in the apartment. And sardines and mackerel. I love having tins of sardines and mackerel. They always get described as inexpensive. I’m clearly a sucker for marketing. I grabbed some of the cheap ones, but I find it hard to not get some of the Matiz España ones in the fancy looking boxes. Let’s hope they’re more sustainably caught.
My grocery motivation could have come at a better time. I suspect in general it is better to get there earlier. I went at about 1530 (yep, I prefer the 24 hour system, deal with it). Still, it wasn’t too crowded, almost everyone was masked, calm, and giving lots of space. It was nice to see. I reckon most of us are going to get this thing or be exposed to it. Reassuring to see people taking it seriously, though.
The bad. I’m still hoping grocery stores get more creative with respect to looking after their employees. Maybe they are, but in our labor market, I doubt it. A good time to include a disclaimer: my medical/science experience involves knowing how to apply a band-aid and some neosporin. It sounds like there’s a chance that exposure over time can play a role in the severity of one’s symptoms or of catching the virus. I’d love to hear that grocery stores are paying their people more, rotating them through shorter shifts, reducing store hours, or maybe even adding staggered hours. It would also be great if they could move some of their operations to open air environments. That’s unlikely.
More bad. I didn’t give the eggs a very good welcome. You know in books and movies where you can just picture the serenity of the breakfast scene. Steaming black coffee, a wooden farmhouse table, rustic plates and bowls, and a cast iron skillet with something sizzling in it. That’s not my kitchen. This morning it was a chaotic, rushed effort to produce a breakfast sandwich and coffee. The mess/clanging to finished product ratio was not good. I ended up with a pretty sad looking egg and tomato on English muffin sandwich. This audio will set the scene. (Update: When I moved from Squarespace to Ghost a lot of links broke. I could update the Soundcloud link, but really, you're not missing out.
I went to the Walgreens on 15th. Out of hair clippers. The quest continues.