Day 3: The Week the World Went Home
Boxing hard, grocery shopping harder.
One year ago today, my husband and I were named Members of the Month at Title Boxing Gym in Littleton, Massachusetts.
We were fairly new members having joined the gym just four and a half months before. But I was pretty active at ‘liking’ and ‘sharing’ on social media. Did that have something to do with their team choosing our ‘couple team’?
We went at least three times a week to hit their heavy bags.
My husband had participated in a 6 week strength training course.
He had ME to thank for that. I had gifted him the membership for his Christmas gift.
The gift that keeps on giving. Right?
A symphony orchestra prepares
The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra rehearsed at the Milford Town Hall for the upcoming concert on the following Saturday night.
Sometimes, I’d go to these rehearsals to take photos for promoting.
I didn’t go on March 3rd. I don’t really remember shy.
The beginning mass interest in toilet paper was just beginning.
I was always someone to buy both toilet paper and paper towels in bulk. I was not worried about our personal stock, but I found it interesting that others were panicking about their derrieres.
Finding mind in the grocery story.
The New York Times headline “Vicarious food shopping, from collectible Mini Brands to Supermarket Sweep, simulates a lost pleasure” reminded me of the first time that I participated in Senior Hours. I had donned a mask with a mustache. I was the ONLY one wearing a mask in the store. The story manager commented, saying he liked it.
The store, instituting the required social distancing, had customers line up either in produce or in dairy. The line extended from the registered all the way back to the deli and meat counter.
“At first glance, the new Supermarket Sweep represents a narrative triumph over Covid-19. Maskless contestants soar jubilantly down its aisles, and the show’s ringmaster, Leslie Jones, turns in a virtuoso performance as the rare American thrilled to be working inside a grocery store” (Hess, et al., New York Times, 2020).
The news emphasized this new normal.
We were trying to prepare… for something… something unknown.
I bought a huge bag of rice and an enormous back of dried black beans. If something bad went down, my family could survive a few weeks on these staples.
I felt self-conscious putting those items on the conveyor belt when it was my turn to check out. I averted the cashier’s look. I’m pretty sure that she didn’t care.
The week the world went home with shopping carts loaded, racking up arm long receipts and hundreds of dollars spent.
Hess, Amanda, et al. “The Grocery Store of the Mind.” New York Times, 3 Mar. 2021, p. C1(L). The New York Times, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A653590327/SPN.SP24?u=mlin_n_umass&sid=SPN.SP24&xid=faf0ebc5. Accessed 3 Mar. 2021.
