QUARANTINE LIFE : SHOPPING

The accumulated change in my purse was making me feel like I was carrying Thor’s hammer, so I searched for the nearest Coinstar. 

The kiosk was inside a Giant Food store, which means I finally went inside a grocery store for the first time since 2020. If you know me, you know that’s a big deal. Thank you. I’m proud of myself, too… lol

I’m a long time Peapod customer, which was a godsend when I was a caregiver, but when I found out about Amazon Fresh, DoorDash and Instacart, I didn’t think I’d ever look back.

Walking through the automatic doors was like visiting Oz. I was overwhelmed by the size and the colors, and all the stuff! I hadn’t come in to shop, and didn’t get a cart, but I grabbed a couple of bags of lettuce and some chips, walked past one closed checkout aisle after another, and several self checkout machines, until I spotted one lone, maskless cashier. She, like another cashier I encountered a while back, quickly touted the convenience of self-checkout, pointed as if, perhaps, I hadn’t seen the aisles, and seemed disappointed that I preferred to deal with a human. It had been a long time since I’d seen handle-less paper bags, too. 

I guess “back to normal” doesn’t mean what you think it does. Are we all now low-key employed by the stores we patronize? Where are all of the cashiers? 

I noticed 2 at Ross last week (when I went after deciding my pandemic pillows needed replacing), one at Walgreens when I got my booster, and none at CVS (their Gold Emblem brand Heavenly Light popcorn is heavenly). 

Stores aren’t exactly encouraging customers to purchase a lot of stuff. Between the flimsy, one-size-fits-all bags, and the limited space, it can get a bit cumbersome.

I wasn’t in the grocery store very long, but I wonder how this buddy system, where customers are now cashiers, is working out. Has the cost to hire cashiers been exchanged for the cost to hire security?