Pandemic improvements for March
I got off work a little early on Friday, and when I called the house to forewarn them, I was asked to check the mail. As I walked down the driveway to the mailbox, I could hear the sounds of...a marching band? A marching band! Wow! Remember, it's currently football season, and with football comes music. I broke into a big grin. I haven't heard a marching band in ages. I was kind of surprised to hear them, to be honest, but thrilled nonetheless. I'm so glad they're getting to participate, too.
Then today, exactly one year to the day when reusable grocery bags were banned from Woodman's, I noticed there were reusable bags for sale again--lots of 'em, possibly in different styles than there used to be. There was a white one with a Cubs logo on it that I don't recall seeing before. That got me excited, because reusable bags have been verboten all this time, and they weren't going to sell 'em if we couldn't use 'em, you know? When we got to the registers, the signs about not using reusable bags were gone. sweet! We asked our checker, and she wasn't sure, but she guessed that was probably the case. That's great news; I don't need to add to my 15-year supply of plastic bags, because I hate the thought of just throwing them away. For a long time, they also put our groceries back into our original carts once everything was rung up, but they stopped doing that about a month ago--or, if like us you used plastic, they said screw it on occasion because the plastic bags were harder to move than paper. This was after I got over my anxiety about the situation, so it was fine.
Little by little, we're getting back to normal. That's not to say we're still able to find everything we want at the grocery store; there are still missing items, like my dad's preferred bacon bits, but it's still unclear if they're gone temporarily or forever. Wait and see, I suppose. But incrementally, things are going back to how they were in the Before Time. Just let me keep wearing my masks, okay? Actually, I saw a guy in the store who'd sort of turned his mask into a shield, like he'd made it out of a T-shirt or something. There was a top band that went around his forehead, and down his nose, with cutouts for eyes, then fully wide again to go over his mouth, and then it dropped down to his chest. It was sort of like a homemade balaclava, you could say. Hey, whatever works and is comfortable for you. I'd rather see that than the yahoos who still have no idea how to keep their masks up over their noses.
Then today, exactly one year to the day when reusable grocery bags were banned from Woodman's, I noticed there were reusable bags for sale again--lots of 'em, possibly in different styles than there used to be. There was a white one with a Cubs logo on it that I don't recall seeing before. That got me excited, because reusable bags have been verboten all this time, and they weren't going to sell 'em if we couldn't use 'em, you know? When we got to the registers, the signs about not using reusable bags were gone. sweet! We asked our checker, and she wasn't sure, but she guessed that was probably the case. That's great news; I don't need to add to my 15-year supply of plastic bags, because I hate the thought of just throwing them away. For a long time, they also put our groceries back into our original carts once everything was rung up, but they stopped doing that about a month ago--or, if like us you used plastic, they said screw it on occasion because the plastic bags were harder to move than paper. This was after I got over my anxiety about the situation, so it was fine.
Little by little, we're getting back to normal. That's not to say we're still able to find everything we want at the grocery store; there are still missing items, like my dad's preferred bacon bits, but it's still unclear if they're gone temporarily or forever. Wait and see, I suppose. But incrementally, things are going back to how they were in the Before Time. Just let me keep wearing my masks, okay? Actually, I saw a guy in the store who'd sort of turned his mask into a shield, like he'd made it out of a T-shirt or something. There was a top band that went around his forehead, and down his nose, with cutouts for eyes, then fully wide again to go over his mouth, and then it dropped down to his chest. It was sort of like a homemade balaclava, you could say. Hey, whatever works and is comfortable for you. I'd rather see that than the yahoos who still have no idea how to keep their masks up over their noses.