I Was One of The Crazies at Walmart When They Opened on Saturday
Hello,
I'm Brittany and I am not a hoarder and I like grocery shopping once a week. I will typically utilize Grocery Pick-up as it is, in my opinion, one of the greatest inventions of my time. However, these are not typical times. Most places have put the service on pause as so many items need to be substituted or are out of stock completely.
So, there I was, Friday night, faced with the reality that I needed food.
Thankfully, I'm okay on the toilet paper front, but I needed protein. I had just begun a great routine of food-prepping on Sundays. I picked out my meals for the week and needed two key items: ground turkey, and chicken breasts.
I set my alarm for bright and early.
I rolled out of bed at 5:45 a.m., I opted for sleeping longer and foregoing a shower and makeup routine. It was Walmart at 7 a.m. Who was I trying to impress?
I got there around 6:30 a.m. so I could assess the situation. I was happy to see there was no panic line. It was cold. I was more than content to hang out in my car.
And then it started.
"Karen" got out of her car and went up to the door. A handful of others just assumed it was already open and then returned to their cars, but not "Karen"! She was committed.
Then "Chad" joined her. Oh boy.
It wasn't long and people started swarming.
I couldn't help but think about how apropos it was. If people didn't hoard groceries and supplies then others wouldn't panic buy the items for fear that they would run out. If "Karen" didn't wait outside the store 15 minutes early then the rest of us wouldn't panic and join her.
So, I begrudgingly joined her and everyone else.
I beelined it to the meat section. Ground turkey. Chicken breast.
Know what they were out of? Every kind of chicken. Breasts, tenders, thighs, wings. Empty. They were also out of turkey.
There went my plans.
So I panic bought what I saw. Ribeye steaks and a seasoned pork loin.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that I found anything.
Before perusing the store for whatever else I needed, which I wasn't even sure of at that point since I was then making up meals on the fly, I decided to go to the cleaning department.
Turns out, I didn't own any disinfecting spray or wipes. Oops.
In my defense, I just moved here and was still piecing supplies together. Since the pandemic broke out, I had been unable to find anything.
I rounded the corner and saw a huge line. Very reminiscent of Black Friday. As I continued by there were associates there guiding people, single file, to the toilet paper. There were only a handful of packages that I could see and the people waiting far outnumbered the supply.
I got to the cleaning aisle and the angels sang. There were multi-packs of disinfecting wipes. I grabbed one, leaving just three more. Next to it, the last Lysol spray.
Even if the food portion of my trip hadn't gone as planned, I was stoked!
Overall, customers and associates were pleasant and understanding. People kept a safe distance which was encouraging. The only issue I witnessed was at check-out.
The woman in line in front of me somehow managed to get a cart full of a bunch of single rolls of paper towels. She was not happy when the cashier told her she was limited to two. I felt for her though. By the sounds of things, that was her toilet paper alternative.
I share my story to encourage folks that it's far from a panicked apocalypse that some people might say it is. I think some situations get sensationalized just because they're shocking but are certainly not the norm.
Do I think it was a waste of time to go that early? Definitely not. Just don't go thinking that the restocking fairy shows up during the overnight. That's not quite how it works.
Stay Healthy!
Brittany