Covid-19 - Shopping
We are now into week 6 of lockdown and things here are plodding along. If anyone had said to me at the beginning of the year “you can stay home” I’d have been only too happy to do so.
Staying home doesn’t usually mean "not going out except for
essentials". It means, you don’t
have work to go to, you can pop to the shops, meet a friend for coffee, go away
for a few days and see somewhere new, all the things we take for granted.
Staying home has made me re-think how I do things. Luckily
our milk is delivered so that’s one less thing to worry about, but shopping has
been an eyeopener. Restrictions on going
to the supermarket make it a major task and you have be prepared for long waits
and queues outside the store. Knowing
what you are going for is also a must. A
list is essential.
In an attempt to limit social interaction, we have tried to
do our shopping on-line. Not just so we
don’t come into contact with other people but also to protect the shop
workers. We used to do a shop at the
weekend and if we needed anything during the week, I popped in on my way home
from work. We now try (sometimes
unsuccessfully) to get a slot for delivery or click and collect. We’ve been lucky a few times, even if it has been a two week wait, and we've been able to go to the store and pick up our order.
Once we get it home the new routine of "wiping it down before
we put it away and washing our hands after touching it" starts. All the things we just did without thinking before, but have
now changed.
Will this way of shopping continue after this is all over?
Will this way of shopping continue after this is all over?
We have had the "personal shopper" at grocery stores for a couple of years; you shop on line, someone in the store picks your order, you arrive in a designated parking area, call to say you are there & they bring your groceries to your car ... for a fee. I had never used that service. Now this way of shopping is the norm, only change is they are currently not charging for this service. I think this style of shopping not only for groceries but many other things is part of the new norm. I also think grocery stores will insist on masks by shoppers & the new rule will be "if you touch it, you've bought it'. No more handling fruit & veg & putting back.
ReplyDeleteThey have had click and collect here for a few years now but we've never used it as I always went shopping on my way home from work. I think from now on this will be our new norm. I'll still pick up after work, I just won't have to go into the store. :)
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