A Saturday trip to Walmart is now anything but ordinary.  Being fairly well stocked on food and paper goods, there were only a couple of items I felt justified an outing during the mandatory Stay At Home order for NC, enacted Monday of last week.  But, with the new CDC guidelines recommending that face masks be worn in public, I thought I would go on a quest for a pack of quilting squares.

Some of the online tutorials for sewing protective face masks state that quilting squares are the perfect sized pieces of fabric to use.  There is minimal waste, and (lets face it- this point is important) quilting squares come in a myriad of cute patterns and fashionable colors!  Retail clothing shops are closed for the time being, so at LEAST I can choose a springy design or geometric pattern in some bright colors for a wardrobe pick-me-up.

As I drove into the Walmart lot, I parked in a spot that would afford Dad a great view for people watching…..and he certainly was entertained as I found out later after my 45 minute odyssey.

My approach to enter the store was the usual one….a nice walk down the parking aisle and go to the closest door.  But, this normal way of entry was altered. Walmart employees stood behind a barricade of overturned shopping carts and flanked the entrances.  It became readily apparent that there was now only one way in, and one way out.  Shoppers were directed to the left side of the entrance, and markings stretched down the sidewalk to guide patrons on safe distancing practices.

People were very respectful, some wearing masks, some wearing gloves, while many were not.  I was on my mission to become one of the mask wearers after this trip!

The line moved  S L O W L Y …..but this was to allow customers to enter and exit on a on-to-one basis, thus keeping the number of total shoppers inside the store at a minimum to promote safe distancing.

When it finally became my turn, I was invited in by an employee at the designated entry door.  I passed through the “shopping cart lobby”, and entered the store to find these markings on the floor…….

Almost 20 minutes into my journey, and I’d just made it into the store.  To their credit, the store employees were very efficient and polite.  The signage was clear, with people diligently following the visual instruction provided.

I set off on my usual circular route around the store.  First, I chose a few Easter cards and some candy treats for my grown children and my father.  Next, I grabbed a bag of peanuts to feed the ever increasing squirrel population at the house (I wonder what that is???)   Finally, I walk the length of the back aisle, hardly passing another soul, and reached the fabric section.  I was SO excited in anticipation of scanning over dozens and dozens of little colorful packets of quilting squares!   And then I turned into the aisle to find this……

I was totally deflated.  I was at least 8 feet away from the lady whose shopping cart is barely in the right side of this photo.  Smiling, attempting to see a bit of humor in the situation, and being careful to maintain an extra amount of distance, I said to her “I guess we were a little late?!”  Whether she didn’t find the situation amusing in the least, or perhaps because she was wearing a mask and I was not (after all, that’s why I was here in the first place!) she didn’t answer me.  She didn’t even acknowledge me.  I felt deflated, alone, and shunned through no fault of my own.  I’m a people person, and this social distancing and staying at home is particularly difficult for an extrovert like me.

I continued on my quest for Percil laundry detergent (success!) and for orange chewable vitamin C gummies, which I’ve not been able to find anywhere in the past 3 weeks.  As I looked high and low in the vitamin section, I heard the announcement “attention shoppers, we have toilet paper and bleach on aisle 1-A!”  Wonderful!  Terrific! I was silently hoping to hear “attention shoppers, we also have quilting squares and vitamin C gummies”.  But the PA system fell silent as I approached the self check-out line.  This moved rather quickly, and an employee glanced at my receipt as I exited the store….one out, one more in.

When I got back to the car, I was a bit anxious about my Dad.  I’d left the keys with him so he could turn on the AC, roll down the windows, or adjust the radio to while away the time as he people watched.  As I sat down in the driver’s seat, apologizing for taking so long, he quickly interjected “no problem!”  He continued, “I’ve been watching the lady who had just pulled her cart up to her car across from us as you left.”  “Oh?” I replied.  “Do you know she sprayed down, wiped off, cleaned and sanitized every single item with spray disinfectant before she put them in her car?  She only left about 15 minutes ago!”

My odyssey was complete, though my goals were not all fulfilled.  I will not be sewing protective masks or giving Dad’s immune system a boost with extra vitamin C this weekend.  But our clothes will be clean, the squirrels will be fed, and I can now assemble a few Easter treats to mail to my daughters for a holiday “I can’t celebrate with you but I’m thinking about you” surprise.  And most importantly,  Dad had a safe and entertaining outing, while maintaining social distancing 6 feet apart at Walmart.