Ever since I was a little girl, tagging along with my Mum at the Safeway, grocery shopping has been one of my favorite things to do. I love it. In fact, I love everything about it, the planning, getting the cart, the choosing, the colors, it is all like one big beautiful sensory and delicious experience for me. When my husband and I returned from our honeymoon, one of the first things we did was go grocery shopping together, it seemed so romantic, joining our food, our cereal and fruit into one home. He also loves grocery shopping, an endearing trait!
So, my love of grocery shopping has been challenged of late and let me try to tell you why. Starting with, my husband can’t come with me because only one family member is allowed in the store. So I go, feeling a bit like a wartime soldier getting supplies for my family, by myself ONCE a week ( absolutely NO popping out for the extra little, je ne sais quoi that I forgot) it is make do until Thursday all the way. I arrive at my beautiful and beloved Metro supermarket. The first thing I notice is the Surete de Quebec police car monitoring the parking lot, not for robbers but for people out of REGION, those toilet paper hoarders who come from AWAY and try to buy OUR TP. As it happens a car from Ontario pulls in, sees the cop car and has an abrupt change of mind about shopping in our little Quebec Village.
I approach the store, trying to figure out how far is six feet in the lineup, not wanting to get too close or disobey the rules, which as we know are changing by the minute. I am an anglophone living in Quebec, lots of things are mysterious to me anyway, but now, I feel a bit clueless. As I wait in line to be admitted to the store I am trying to read the rules, and stay six feet no two meters apart and not do anything wrong….like going through airport security. Suddenly it is my turn, answering the questions, meaning I have to understand the French and the question. So, no I do not have a fever, I live here in the village, yes I will wash my hands, no I will not talk to anyone, yes I will be courteous to staff, yes I will only touch things once, no I will not socialize in the store, yes, I will stand on the dots on the floor and wash my hands when I leave. Breathe I say to myself. They did NOT say do not use your reusable bags.
Once in, I breathe that same kind of a sigh of relief as one does once through airport security, except I don’t want to breathe too hard and spread “respiratory droplets”, I have my list carefully done, with menus for the week, and thankfully our store is well stocked. I mean there are many signs saying this section closed, like the tasting spots but who cares. I am busy wondering about the two meters and if I am spatially challenged because I can’t figure out how to get carrots, and stay six feet away while the produce man is reloading the carrot supply.
On a side note on my way to the grocery store, I drove by the Liquor store, the SAQ select Quebec’s Provincially Run Deluxe Liquor Store. The line was wrapped around the store, like Toys R Us, at Christmas time. So when I get to the wine aisle of my grocery store, I stare at the selection rather forlornly, before I say to myself, something like “Suck it up Princess” buy the weekly wine, so what if it is not your favorites, just buy it instead of risking standing in line at SAQ.
Continuing on grabbing items, following the touch them only once rule, of course, and not checking the ingredients or price, I think that is against the rules, and besides I am still wondering how to be two meters aways from passing shoppers in six-foot-wide aisles. I am wishing Martin was with me because I figure he would know the answer.
On the kitty food aisle I am stumped, being as that last week my four cans of kitty food were confiscated. The officious cashier seemed to think I was hoarding kitty food at four cans per week, I tried explaining this to my kitty who eats a can a day but so far we have not reached an understanding. So, I quickly choose a case of kitty food hoping this is not confiscated.
My heart stops as a grocery clerk who is coughing and sneezing albeit into her sleeve is chatting with a customer in the bakery department. My head hurts too much by now to figure out how many rules that is breaking and besides I have to navigate a particularly tricky three-way corner in the store, avoiding the coughing chatting clerk and a man coming from the beer aisle and trying to stay two meters apart.
I wanted to get Martin a special lunch, it was back at the Food To Go Section at the front of the store. That would require going back through the store, imagine all the respiratory droplets. “Oh, Sweetie, I say to myself, I just can’t bring you a treat.”
So I start down the dots on the floor, they mark two meters. It gets a little tricky on the actual turning to stand in line at the cash, but it’s all good. I can’t really see the cashier all that clearly, because of the plexi glass protection blockade but I figure I will know when it is my turn.
As soon as the guy in front of me pushes his cart away and the clerk starts washing her hands I know it is my turn. Rather uneventfully, I load the conveyor belt with my items. I smile at the cashier cuz we are not allowed to socialize. I am hurrying because I have to bag my own items since Covid -19 arrived the staff are no longer allowed to bag. Man oh man I think to myself, there is a lot more to this than meets the eye, as I suddenly realize eggs DO Not go in first. By now I am sweating, I feel so much pressure to get all the groceries in the reusable bags before the lady on the dot moves up. I am almost finished when the cat food confiscating clerk two registers away, says Madame, Madame in a stern voice, after a while I figure out I am the Madame in question, shaking her finger at me she says in French no reusable bags, PLASTIC BAGS only. Shamed and fighting back tears, I apologize. Next week I’ll do better I say in my peculiar French.
And my heavy cart full of sloppily packed reusable bags, and I went to the Entry.. which is also the Exit, stopping to wash my hands…… Bon Courage says the Control point lady “Bon Courage a vous” I say.
A heartfelt thank you to all the brave people working to keep our grocery supply strong. Bon Courage to each of you and your families.
