Walmart opened at 7am today for Geezers/Elders/Seniors/etc. I arrived at 7:15 and had to join a queue of about 15 people waiting to get in because the store was limiting the number of people in the store. Of those in front of me, not one was wearing a mask; I was wearing a cloth mask over my N95 mask (for reasons I'd rather not go into). Photos below.
They let about 4-5 people in at a time. When I neared the front of the line, I looked back and over half the people in the lineup behind me were wearing masks, mostly surgical masks.
Also while I was near the front of the line, a woman went to the security guard who was controlling the number of people being let in and asked, "Seniors can go in early, can't we?"
"Yes, that's the lineup."
"For seniors???"
Every person in the line was clearly a senior. The man behind me in line and I looked at each other and laughed, complimenting ourselves for looking so young.
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How do single parents, working couples, or for that matter anyone who works regular hours get any shopping done? The Walmart lineup was VERY long when I left, and the line up at Costco (London North) looked to be at least 100 people long an hour before they opened! Is it that bad everywhere? If so, it reminds me of the old gasoline shortages in 1979 when people queued up for hours to get gas and many people hired others to do the waiting for them. I see a potential for a booming business for seniors who will shop for other people.
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I was disappointed (though I shouldn't have been surprised) to see none of the employees wearing a mask. One was, but it was down around his neck. I can imagine that Walmart might be reluctant to outbid healthcare employers/employees for even surgical masks, but I thought maybe some of the employees might be wearing some they had made for themselves.
Everyone tried to maintain distancing, but it's not always possible in the aisles, even with fewer people in the store. That's the reason I trimmed my beard and sideburns last night and wore my mask combination.
I saw one employee cough. Only once, but into her hand, not her arm or elbow. I avoided the area where she was working. She needs lessons in coughing, for sure.
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Checking out was carefully policed for distancing, both in the overall queue and at each cash register. Walmart would still let shoppers use their own reusable bags, but I didn't expect that, so I didn't have ours with me.
I was stunned to see the customer in front of me pay for their shopping with cash and receive cash in change. Currency is a great way to transmit a virus.
After I received my order, I thanked the cashier for working today. She said others had thanked her, too.
[Addendum: they had toilet paper (our brand, even), chicken, chicken parts, eggs, milk, most everything I wanted. I didn't see any hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes or sprays, though.]
This is getting too long. I'll post about grocery prices in a separate post.