Disgusted: A Rant

The day had finally arrived. Well, the non-disputed day. I had returned from my fully sanctioned journey to the North on December 27, 2020 and yesterday was the fourteenth day since then. So I’d self-isolated for a full fortnight. I don’t think any such requirement exists for simple driving within a province but I could do it and it was better than not doing it. This means that I could go interact with the public in an appropriate manner. Which for me, would be to go get groceries. I’d made a list of three things for yesterday and three for today that I wanted to do, small goals, easily attainable. Yesterday I was thinking I’d clean my rainfall shower head, some little nipples are gunged up with crud, tighten the towel rack in that bathroom and hang the painting in the basement. For today I’d like to get groceries, vacuum the house, and fold the laundry I put in on Thursday. Small goals. Since I only did the shower head yesterday, I’d have to be extra productive today. First order of business would be the groceries. I try to respect the first hour for the elderly, especially since we’re back in lockdown, so the plan was to wake up between half six and half seven to get ready, fill the truck with fuel, grab a McBreakfast and be ready to enter at eight. What actually happened was that I opened my eyes around six and went back to sleep to dream some phenomenal dreams and then wake up naturally at eight. Oops. So I went directly to Walmart at quarter to nine. It took me around an hour to complete my shopping. Since I only get out and about once every two weeks in lockdown I took my sweet time doing the shopping. I wandered into the health and beauty to get some body wash, I tarried down to the garden area and bought two nice pots for plants I’ve got that are expanding, I wandered electronics looking for the headphones I bought to suggest them to Mother. Those areas were pretty quiet, not many people milling about even at this hour on a Sunday morning. Next I found my way to the food area, different story. Most people were wearing masks and keeping distant. Some weren’t. Even now, as local numbers swell to three or four times the level of the first wave. I saw exposed noses and some exposed mouths, one ear hanger. I saw people crowding in together to get at the same items. I saw groups of two or three adults shopping together. I was disappointed. I was determined not to be rushed by anyone but repeatedly people were in a huff behind me as I perused the aisles. I had a list and wanted to get everything on it. The store looked like it was recovering from a round of panic buying again. There were numerous items I wanted that were out of stock. Most of them I was buying the next round I’d need so could likely survive until next round but still, it was disturbing that we’re still in that pattern. I found a woman walking towards me in a clearly marked aisle. It had about four of us all spaced and moving in unison with the arrows. She stopped when she saw me looking at her and we made eye contact, I glanced down to the arrows on the floor and she did the same then our eyes met again, then she started apologizing profusely. Maybe her mind was elsewhere or something, but it’s been over ten months now, aisles are one way, figure it out bud. I told her these things happen and she joined our parade at the end of the line. The checkout was a slog, they were only operating half of them to space things out, which is fine. They have barriers in place to operate them all when it gets busier but it wasn’t there yet. As you well know, I don’t mess with the self-checkout. I won’t support that element of corporate greed, trying to squeeze more profits by hiring less people, no thanks. I patiently waited my turn and got out of the store. While I waited they closed a cash down so someone could take their fifteen minute break. The woman first in line had been there when I arrived so I offered that she go ahead of me with her smaller load of goods, I really loaded up. She was grateful and went through. Cost me an additional five or six minutes but made her feel a lot better (she was pretty annoyed with their move). I loaded the belt quickly when it was my turn. My final tally was $320.77. I’d got those pots, extra body wash and some cleaning supplies that I generally buy once or twice a year as well as restocking the shelves after a long run without fresh ingredients. It felt good to be reloaded.

I did notice something that disgusted me. I saw a half dozen people walking out with one bag. Some were in pairs and leaving with one small bag of goods. The rule is one adult per household and the implied suggestion is to only go shopping as necessary. Some people don’t understand the difference between need and want I suppose, or maybe they are so disorganized they can’t plan ahead effectively. That pissed me off an appropriate amount as I folded up my detailed list I’d made before leaving the house. Then in the parking lot I find another form of “me first” behaviour that never fails to make my blood boil. There were several carts abandoned in empty parking spots, some only a couple spots from the cart barn. I even saw a woman take her bags out and leave the cart and drive away. That’s a major eff you to future patrons looking to park and a selfish thing that seems minor but illustrates to me how people behave, how decency is almost extinct. At least walk it over to the cart storage. The other aspect of cart ettiquette is to stow your cart correctly, that’s more minor, the major part is to put it over there so they can be efficiently collected. I’ve had to bring them in a few times and it’s not a pleasant task, especially in winter, in snow. I take it one step further and seek to tame the chaos of the storage area but putting like carts together and pushing them to the back so that there is a “trainer” example for others to follow. Today there were five carts willy nilly so I started two rows with those five carts so that hopefully those people with enough decency to bring them over see the example I set and store their carts appropriately. It’s not hard to not be a jerk.

Think about the consequences your negligence has on other people, take two seconds to consider that. Too many of us are so focused on ourselves and our immediate families that we ignore everyone else. I’m not innocent of this myself, not even close but at least I have a mixed record. How many of you can say the same. Whether it is following the COVID protocols and mandates of the business or of the province, why do you think you don’t have to follow them? I get frustrated when I go out and see various levels of compliance. In my view, if we all followed the rules we’d have things under control quicker and we can get back to a more free way of life sooner. The people that flaunt the rules are being disrespectful and selfish. And the more that do it, and the longer we do it the further we’re going to skid along mired in this restricted lifestyle. Beyond people having to pay for this with the very lives, it’s also eating months off the calendar of my life. If I’m going to be selfish that’s the aspect of it that I’d like claim. You’re ignorance is wasting what precious little time I have left alive.

I organized all of my food by storage area, as I always do, and got it all stowed in short order then had a relaxing McBreakfast that was nabbed on the way home. I forgot to get fuel. I guess I’ll fill it in two weeks when I go out again. I looked at my list of small goals, groceries were done, cleaning the showerhead was done. Next I sought to tighten the towel rack. I assumed it was an allen key to do this. It took a lot of frigging around with the camera on my phone trying to see up there but eventually I laid down on the dirty floor and looked at the toilet paper holder of a similar design. In the end it was a 5/64th allen key that did the job. I tightened all of them in the room while I was at it. After eight years of a loose rack, it was finally fixed. Next I took down my MSC challenges for the day and caught up on several Musings that had been drafted out. Next up was to start tackling the tasks. I started the dryer to refresh the clothes therein and used the interim period to vacuum the main floor and hoist the terrible and now audibly offensive vacuum to the upper levels. I folded the clothes and then finished vacuuming. That completed the tasks for today and only hanging the painting remained of yesterday’s tasks. I took my time and centred it off the area that went to the ceiling, not sure if that was a clever move.

With all the work done I set about finishing my book Starship Troopers. When that was done I had some ketchup chips and a Dr Pepper around four. I wasted my life listening to an audiobook for several hours before making a snack of a Stouffer’s Bistro Chicken Parm panini and some very rich and fancy hot chocolate before starting a fantasy hockey draft. I had a video chat with Booj during that. When it was over I went back to the audiobook and laid in the dark enjoying the story until it was bedtime.