Now times grocery buying

For a long time now, I've dissed the concept of having someone grocery shop for me. I just thought it was the stupidest thing ever. And now, I eat those words. Is that a pun that I am talking about groceries and I also eat the words? Anyway.

Food Lion has had a sign about home delivery in front of there store for a minute, so I thought I'd give them a go. I am done with going out to stores by now. Food Lion felt like I was doing the order on their site, but it's tied into InstaCart (IC), for whom the shoppers actually work. It's like Uber - an order comes in and they see a list of potential shopping gigs on the app, and boom, you're paired with a shopper. In the beginning, the Food Lion site was not well synched with the IC site and it was very frustrating to make the order. It was unable to be edited, etc. But, it was paid for and tip was given at the same time for no contact delivery.

When it's your turn, you get a text saying that Zane (our shopper for the purposes of naming a shopper) has begun your shopping trip. And you can text back! So, that first time, Zane would tell me what they were out of and what he could substitute for items. I was worried about having no control, but the back and forth made me feel like part of the process. Eventually, I got a text telling me my shopper was done. The shopper brought items to the porch and I told them I'd take care of it from there.

The second time I used delivery was with Publix, also through IC. They are limiting items in a bit of an odd way, so some things were not available in the quantity I needed. I get it, but Ravioli in a can? Again, the shopper was super communicative, but the groceries were more expensive and less available. This second time, though, I opted in for free delivery for a month for $9.99 that will renew every month, but can be canceled at any time.

Here's a good, though long and super detailed, video about what to do when you get stuff delivered.

Fast forward to today. Fill-in groceries from Food Lion. They've fixed their web site and it's synching with IC just fine. You can chat with the shopper through the site or through the app (IC app). I think hoarding may be getting better - Food Lion had toilet paper. It wasn't my brand, but who cares? 

When the guy arrived, I kept my distance. I had on gloves and had a pocketful of alcohol wipes. I took the bags in (wiped the door knob after using it) and proceeded to wipe each item with wipes and putting them in a clean space. When the cleaning was done, Winnie and I put stuff away. Afterward, I wiped down the counter where the bags had been. 

So, that's shopping for now with this frickin virus in the world.  Winnie got news that an old, very good friend at one time passed away last night. Not sure if it's the virus or not, but it's maddening. John Prine is probably going to die from this mess. This world changing event is so odd and from time to time, it's hard to make sense of it all.

G'night. 

Pandemic style

Coronavirus, COVID-19, and whatever else you want to call it - it's making people twitchy. There are so many things I do not understand about society's reaction to the virus.

I figure that you can either go all in and buy up the store and wipes or you can sit back and just let life happen. There are a bunch of middle grounds including staying home, eating in, and just not being in public for a while. One thing is for sure, no one agrees on what we should do, so society is starting to fold in on itself.

Closures to ensure social distancing and little to not contact in groups. Locally and globally, schools are closing, volunteer programs are suspended, concerts will be rescheduled, public places are delaying seasonal openings, and so much more.

Grocery hoarding is everywhere too. I went to the store today and there was no chicken:

no ground beef:

no potatoes (yes, potatoes):

no paper products (toilet paper and paper towels):

I didn't intend to go to the store and be that lady taking pictures here and there, but I was. Ramen was on mostly empty shelves. I almost understand that one. Every checkout aisle was open and there was a line at each.

Live misinformation and real facts are available all day long on the internet, television, radio, and anywhere there is a person talking. We soak it all up like so many sponges, but we're not really sure what to believe and what to let pass us by. Neil deGrasse Tyson implores us to listen to science. Much of what we hear from government leaders doesn't quite go that way and we sometimes walk away knowing less than we did before we started listening.

Conspiracies are every damned where. The best one I heard is that N. Korea sent this virus out some time ago as our "Christmas present." Others involve the left doing something magical along the way so that the right gets infected and Trump doesn't get reelected. Okay, so I simplified that, but you get it, right? And there is at least one that puts the blame squarely on Obama somehow. One delightful observation (not a conspiracy) by a certain generation is that coronavirus is the Boomer Remover, meaning we're all going to die. 

The shit has not yet hit the fan, but depending on what you listen to or watch, it just might. It also might not. This here is pretty damned unprecedented.