Thursday, April 8, 2021

G: Groceries, Gas, Gender Reveal, Ghost Town, Getting Out, Grounded

 

#AtoZChallenge 2021 April Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter G

Groceries, Gas, Gender Reveal, Ghost Town, Getting Out, Grounded

Getting groceries is never fun, and having to go to the store during the pandemic just made it even more not-so-fun. Having to go slowly through the store, following the "One-Way" signs on the floors (which have since disappeared), and trying not to literally bump into others. Even running into others at the store in the figurative sense seemed rare. Whenever I saw someone I know at the store, it was never more than a simple exchange, rarely the "reunion" depicted in the video below:



The worst part about grocery shopping during the pandemic was during the first weeks of March, when store shelves were empty. It was hard finding milk at first, but the lack of milk did not seem to last as long the lack of toilet paper or pasta (more on this to come). Before the pandemic, people were always bringing in bags to the store, after stores began charging for plastic bags. But now most of us are getting more bags now, both plastic and paper. And for more than year now, my mom and I have been frantically wiping down our groceries when we get home.


Gas was still necessary to get, but initially having to stay home required less of it and getting it less often. 


I must admit I did not drive when I was 16 and rarely did anything from which to get grounded. Just the same, I did find this funny. 



A gender-reveal party. This annoyed me to no end. I've never had children, but if I had, and had chosen to have a gender reveal party, I would have just settled for pink or blue frosting inside a cake, or for just dumping the appropriate color of confetti from a box or jar. The annoying part was that this was during the wildfires that struck California in late summer. The fires were hard enough, along with the hot weather and the pandemic. This was one of many things that occurred this past year that made me think, "What were these people thinking?"

At first getting out of the house other than going to the store was limited to just driving around. With empty school yards and other empty business, the town looked like a ghost town. And a  fire downtown destroyed five adjacent buildings in the middle of  summer. In November, our main street was made into a one-way street with parklets. Now the street is less busy, still seeming rather quiet, if not still like a ghost town. 

One thing I missed about having to be home was getting out to look at stores. In March 2021, I made my first trip to Barnes and Noble in Gilroy, California, in more than a year or so. This was after going to Lane Bryant to get some clothes. And in January, after getting a $100 gift card for Target for my birthday, I used to to get some books. Only doing this every so often and still following protocols.
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Concluding for today.



9 comments:

TWW said...

I really don't like lockdown...we're still in it here in Ireland, I miss going out for coffee, going to the shop for books...our end of lock down might start next week, might start in a few months.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Due to my family situation, I was already doing onlin grocery/delivery shopping... and have continued thus for everything. I was never one for going around stores. A real chore as far as I am concerned. So I have to admit the move online suits me. YAM xx

Lisa said...

Thank you for stopping by my blog, now I found yours! I am trying to visit from the Master List, but there are SO many! Gender Reveals have gotten ridiculous. People have been killed by exploding home-made bombs! The cake is good enough. My first I didn't know, it was 40 years ago. The the other two, I didn't tell! My stores are short on soap again. But, what is a major problem for me is the shortage of canned cat food! Apparently the supply chain for ingredients is affected, as well as the factories had shut down, and had illness. But, my cats are not fond of "weird" flavors and brands!
I see you shopped in Gilroy. Garlic Capital still? My grandmother lived in Salinas, so Gilroy was a town on the way from the SF bay area. That was when there was no freeway to bypass it.

Jamie Ghione said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jamie Ghione said...

I hear you on the cat food. We need it in our house.

I live in Hollister, near Gilroy. As far as I know Gilroy is still the Garlic Capital.

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

My husband do the grocery shopping, so it's been more than a year I have not visited one ;) We had a time with a 6 p.m. curfew, just in time to go home after work, and now we are back in lockdown, so... no shoping ;)
Quilting Patchwork & Appliqué

Elephant's Child said...

Another Great entry for the A-Z challenge.

Sandra Cox said...

Good A-Z post:)

Gail M Baugniet - Author said...

With lockdown and concern about getting the virus, my activities were limited to walking and grocery shopping. I had to turn grocery shopping into an entertaining event so incorporated it with daily walks which took me to the footbridge over the boulevard, the steps up and down numbering 152 total; then several blocks to the store with bougainvillea bushes lining several sections of streets. Kept me sane.
https://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/
G is for Green Flash at Sunset