Welcome to the New Normal . . .

This morning I needed to run to Walgreen's to pick up a prescription.  I also wanted to go to my local fresh market.  The pharmacy doesn't open until at least an hour after the fresh market, so since I only wanted to make one trip today (it's still so brutally hot here), I decided to wait until they were both open to go. 

I got in and out of Walgreens easily, and then drove over to the fresh market.  It wasn't all that crowded, for which I was grateful.  There was one woman there walking around with her mask under her chin rendering it completely useless.  I steered clear of her throughout the store as much as I could and walked past her on my way to check out. 

She immediately got in line behind me and was much closer than 6'.  I asked to her please back up and she became belligerent and said I could move forward, which I said I would do shortly.  (I was still putting my groceries on the belt to check out.) 

I looked at her and said, "You don't even have your mask on."

She yanked it up over her mouth and nose and said, "There!  Are you happy now?" 

I thought to myself, "Really??  What are you, 5??"  (All she needed to do was stamp her feet . . . )

But what I said out loud, was, "Yes, thank you very much."

Grocery shopping - any kind of shopping, really - has always been one of my pleasures.  I have always enjoyed it and I love going up and down all the aisles in whatever store I'm in.  I don't feel that way any more.  Most people don't bother to follow the 1-way aisles - they just do whatever suits them.  Because I'm high-risk, it's already stressful enough just leaving the house and going into a shop of any sort these days, but this was my first experience with an idiot.  It's left a sour taste in my mouth and it feels like another loss for me to add to the list of all the changes/losses that are part and parcel to COVID-19.

My fresh market has gotten items in for me, like the flax milk I can drink.  I like shopping there - they know me there.  I don't know that I'll be back any time soon, though . . . not after this morning.  This is probably my own fault.  I should have gone right at 8 when they opened and made a second trip to Walgreens later on.  The fresh market is not usually not at all crowded right when they open; when I go at 8 I am often the only customer in the store.  Or maybe I should start getting up to catch the 7 a.m. senior hour at another, larger grocer again.

Amazon Fresh doesn't deliver to my location, and there haven't been any Instacart curbside pickup available at any of my local stores except for Walmart, which I boycott on principle.  The closest instacart is about half an hour west of me.  I'm considering doing that next time.  I did find an app for curbside pickup at the Jewel, which is another local grocer, so I'm going to check that out and see if they do it at either of the Jewel stores closest to me. 

Welcome to the new normal, I guess . . .

I suppose this is a first-world problem, huh?  Am I a "Karen" for wanting her to put her mask on?  I don't even know . . .

Here's a different Karen from - before she was so ill.  What a voice.  Gone far too soon  . . .