Learning to Put on Your Seat Belt

So, yesterday (Tuesday) Kevin phoned from work. Someone had heard from someone who had heard from someone that possible Shelter-in-Place was going to be enacted soon.  He was trying to fact check and, I think, just wanted a soothing voice of reason.  I feel like even if it's announced today, there is still no reason to panic.

However, Kevin still insisted that he come home and we go back into town to "get some extra stuff."  Sigh.  Shopping at 6:00 pm is never optimum but in this situation it's going to be futile.  If it makes him feel better, here we go.

Town is a former shell of itself.  The store itself was a little busy but not crazy.  Everyone was quiet but everyone was also extra polite.  So, that's nice. Even with that, Kevin announces "I would pay $20 dollars EACH TIME to never have to shop again."  He's just not a shopping kind of guy and to be fair, I hate it also.
I will admit it was disconcerting to see empty shelves. I've never experienced that on this scale. When I started to feel that little tickle of concern, I just reminded myself that This Wasn't The Last Grocery Store Ever. 

The only thing we weren't able to get was toilet paper.  It's so frustrating that it is still a thing.  Measures have been implemented to limit the amount of purchases, but shelves are still empty.  Just the psychological impact of seeing empty shelves increases the sense of panic.  Truly though, truck deliveries happen every day. Factories are still working. To quote my surrogate brother: "We are not flooded, there wasn't a hurricane. People are still working."

What I did find interesting is that this is going to force us to broaden our perspectives.  Your preferred brand is unavailable, you try a different one.  Your usual frozen vegetables aren't available? try the Italian or Stir fry mix instead.  You get to figure out what you can make with the ingredients on hand...I literally considered the stir-fry thing last night. Pre-Pandemic Me would have never had that thought, like, ever.

I have been working on reducing my environmental footprint even more now. I've noticed that I'm using more rags and less paper, I'm using less paper over all.  I have been putting Kevin's sandwiches in a plastic container (this isn't pandemic related but I still want the credit)  I'm starting to think about making things last versus the mindset of "Meh, there's more at the store."

One of the other things I realized is that we are reverting back to the 1950's as far as shopping is concerned. Stores aren't open 24/7 anymore. I suspect that many of them may not revert to that business model.  Stores are sharing their day-olds and "expired" products with the community.  The elderly and fragile are getting the attention they deserve.  Neighbors are helping one another and coordinating efforts to make sure everyone is okay.

People also seem to be "discovering" people again.  Our heads are out of our phones and our computers.  Families are home together and trying to learn or remember how to do just that: be a family.  Neighbors are home and getting to know each other again.  We are getting to know our service workers and our first responders.  Because we all need each other more now than ever before.

Some of you might not remember but this situation is kind of tantamount to when required seatbelt use was enacted. Everyone fussed, then everyone started doing it.  Then friends/family would remind "Put your on seatbelt."  Until it just became a habit that everyone has and it seems unusual when you hear someone wasn't wearing theirs.

I guess my point is that as awful as this IS, maybe there will be a shiny side when it's all done.  Maybe we won't go back with our heads in our phones, not paying attention to what we use, and how we shop.  People are remembering (or in my case: learning) how to make things from scratch again. People are being more mindful overall.  That is the shiny side I hope to see continue.