Do's and don'ts of social distancing

[Ellener]

I've been going to the store just before closing when it's least busy, just not the last ten minutes when people rush in looking for something 'urgent'. 

I just read this https://www.verywellmind.com/the-dos-and-don-ts-of-social-distancing-4800573 

Other things I wish people would do- leave their family at home and not shop in groups, and I would like for things to be clearly marked with the price face-up so no one has to handle something to check.

Where I live we have drive-through banks and pharmacies already making it easier, but the library drive-up service has now been suspended through April.

I've programmed in my 'phone some drive up take-out decent food places so I can call ahead order and pay, then they bring it out and set it down!

Wonder how many of these things will persist after the pandemic? I can't imagine shaking hands or hugging strangers ever again 🙂

[chillii]

It'd be kinda nice to have some of those luxuries where l am but at the same time some type of normal in a drive down and even parking , packing groceries, it's all a bit of relief and some day light for me tbh. The last time l parked outside cross the road under a tree, 100% safe and free, and kinda chuckled watching all the fuss buzzing in and out of the car park and people all around people just to be 20mtrs closer to the supe doors, go figure. And then we packed the car in the same , 100% free and away from people , a beautiful tree hanging over us filtering our air , beats me why they weren't all where we were doing the same. Must admit though we wasn't crazy about gf going in but she had a plan and that went pretty good.

last l went to the atm , l tapped with plastic over one fingertip didn't touch anything , seemed safe enough. But then l realized cash is the worst thing who knows who's touched it so l'll stick to the card now,l sanitized the notes haha. l've realized you can go up to pay for things without touching a thing ,counters or anything with the card , only a cloth bag and your stuff, so that cuts down a lot too. But yeah , it's hard to imagine how this will all effect things, people, life , later , isn't it. l'm hoping we get on top of it fairly quickly here and right now that's looking good so l'm thinking things will be weird , people, life, for a year or two later but l'm hoping it fades in time.

Edited April 4, 2020 by chillii

[Gaeta]

I have noticed no down time at the grocery stores. It's super busy all the time all day long. Now people need to go back to cooking & baking. I had to wait 1 week to see yeast & baking powder on the shelves again. Over here we are not allowed to go to grocery shopping more than 1 person per family and they don't want to see us there more than once a week, once per 2 weeks is best. Only grocery stores and pharmacies are open, if something breaks or you run out of something that cannot be bought in a grocery store then you need to get imaginative. 

I think the hand-washing often will remain in our habits, video calls with doctors will also grow from here. We video call my parents, my sibblings and my daughter. We never did that before, it's a habit that will probably remain in my family. 

 

[Piddy]

Went to the grocery store yesterday.  They limit the carts and have the plexiglass up at the check outs.  Had the blue tape 6 feet apart on the floor.  We wore our N95 masks and saw many others with masks.  Saw one woman who pulled her turtle neck up over her nose and another had a dish towel wrapped around her face tied with string.  A lot of people wearing gloves also.  It was eerily quiet in the store.  

[preraph]

You know, I was thinking all you should need is a loose thing to act as a nose clamp and you could just pull your shirt up over your nose.  What kills me is they say you know, don't touch the outside of your mask and all that.  But what about all your entire clothing?  I mean, it's got the same germs your outside of your mask has!!  And you have to touch that to pull it on and off.  There's so many holes in all this circulating advice. 

[Piddy]

7 minutes ago, preraph said:

You know, I was thinking all you should need is a loose thing to act as a nose clamp and you could just pull your shirt up over your nose.  What kills me is they say you know, don't touch the outside of your mask and all that.  But what about all your entire clothing?  I mean, it's got the same germs your outside of your mask has!!  And you have to touch that to pull it on and off.  There's so many holes in all this circulating advice. 

Yeah, it's tough to know what to do.  If it's floating around like dust which I heard one doctor say then it would be tough to avoid getting it.  Everyone touches their face without even realizing it.  All you can do is what they recommend and hope it's enough.

[preraph]

Yeah, I'm the world's worst about touching my face.  I have one kind of runny eye that I have to clear regularly.  I try to do it with a paper towel, but when you're shopping that's not practical.  

[chillii]

One thing in just normal life later l think will be a real shame is that all this will probably speed up the fading out of shops and malls and many businesses that would otherwise had still lasted another 5 or 10 yrs yet. l already hated the way it's all been slowly scaling down or disappearing  before this but it'll be sped up even more now sadly . Because so many will have moved to online now after all this is over and so many will be all setup now and see no reason to go back later. Something they would've put off before for a few more years yet otherwise.

[preraph]

Yes, I miss retail too, but I can't go to malls anyway.  I like freestanding retail.  That, I enjoy.  One of mine closed down this past year and is online only now, and I wonder can they even stay in business.  People do like to try things on.  There are loans and stipends in the US for these businesses.  I fear my favorite restaurant may go away now.  They were not doing that great already.  I would really miss them.  They caused some of their own problems though by custom- building and then got stuck with one of those big expensive places.  And then they changed the menu trying to cheap it down.  No telling what will happen now.  

Edited April 5, 2020 by preraph

[Philosopher]

1 hour ago, chillii said:

One thing in just normal life later l think will be a real shame is that all this will probably speed up the fading out of shops and malls and many businesses that would otherwise had still lasted another 5 or 10 yrs yet. l already hated the way it's all been slowly scaling down or disappearing  before this but it'll be sped up even more now sadly . Because so many will have moved to online now after all this is over and so many will be all setup now and see no reason to go back later. Something they would've put off before for a few more years yet otherwise.

I am concerned about this too, real world shops where already in trouble before this. I reckon this will be final straw for them and that in a few years time the only real life stores will be supermarkets and convenience stores and almost all other retail will be done online. Restaurants and pubs I also worry may never recover as people will have got so use to socialising over the internet so see little need to visit restaurants or pubs.

[Ellener]

2 hours ago, chillii said:

One thing in just normal life later l think will be a real shame is that all this will probably speed up the fading out of shops and malls and many businesses that would otherwise had still lasted another 5 or 10 yrs yet. l already hated the way it's all been slowly scaling down or disappearing  before this but it'll be sped up even more now sadly . Because so many will have moved to online now after all this is over and so many will be all setup now and see no reason to go back later. Something they would've put off before for a few more years yet otherwise.

Harvey did for some areas of this city, my old home was in a thriving long-time 'hub' and businesses did re-open for a while, but they are gone now along with a lot of the homes which flooded. I expect it will be the same for after the pandemic- and that even more retail and other business will go to online now it's been done en masse....

[littleblackheart]

I'll admit I'm really enjoying social distancing. I hope we keep these rules forever. Supermarkets are quiet and never crowded,  you just buy what you need and go, there's a respectful distance between everyone. I usually absolutely hate food shopping but social distancing has made this shopper very happy.

[preraph]

That's not true where I'm at.  And you have to assume everything in there has been touched by 100 people and is contaminated.  And so is the air.

[littleblackheart]

You mean there's no social distancing where you are? Like, you have a choice? Here there are marks on the shop floors 2 meters apart, a one way system, only a certain amount of customers are allowed at a time, only one customer / till, most people are wearing gloves. I only go out shopping every 10 days and find a lot easier to do now, when you time it well. Of course products may have been touched by 100 people before but what can you do...

[The Outlaw]

It's certainly put a new spin on things unfortunately. But nobody where I live really seems to want to practice social distancing of any kind. I was in a grocery store the other day and it was the most packed out of anything I'd seen those so far and about ten feet in front of me to my right there was a middle aged man coughing his head off and doing a poor job with covering his mouth. And now the CDC says that droplets can travel over 20 feet so he may have very well infected everyone around him and myself. I don't know if some peeps just aren't thinking or simply don't care so long as it's not them. And I'm an essential worker so I can't lay low. God forbid should I get it, I'm just going to accept my fate but I'm also not going down without a fight.  

[chillii]

Ya kidding , God that is just shear selfish stupidity.lf l lived in the states think l'd be hibernating up in some mountains somewhere right now.

ps, Maybe you better travel to another supermarket somewhere l wouldn't be going near that thing.

Edited April 6, 2020 by chillii

[SincereOnlineGuy]

On 4/3/2020 at 12:04 PM, Ellener said:

I've been going to the store just before closing when it's least busy, just not the last ten minutes when people rush in looking for something 'urgent'. 

 

Great idea.  Wait until all of the Covid carriers in your area have been there during the day, and go after they have picked-over everything.

 

Buy extra fresh fruit too.

 

🍉🍇🍊🍓

[Ellener]

1 hour ago, SincereOnlineGuy said:

Great idea.  Wait until all of the Covid carriers in your area have been there during the day, and go after they have picked-over everything.

 

Buy extra fresh fruit too.

 

🍉🍇🍊🍓

Nothing in there is untouched at any time. Ever.  I'm alive and well so far 🙂 but thanks for your concern 😀

[dangerous]

On 4/6/2020 at 12:02 AM, Philosopher said:

I am concerned about this too, real world shops where already in trouble before this. I reckon this will be final straw for them and that in a few years time the only real life stores will be supermarkets and convenience stores and almost all other retail will be done online. Restaurants and pubs I also worry may never recover as people will have got so use to socialising over the internet so see little need to visit restaurants or pubs.

God help us! I much prefer real life meetings over online. I can't wait for pubs, cafes, restaurants, gyms, music venues to open their doors again. I am sure I am not in the minority!

[NuevoYorko]

On 4/3/2020 at 12:04 PM, Ellener said:

 

Other things I wish people would do- leave their family at home and not shop in groups, and I would like for things to be clearly marked with the price face-up so no one has to handle something to check.

 

I'd like it if stores or products (not sure where it originates) would abandon that thing where people scan barcodes for a price check, coupon or whatever they are looking for.  On my last trip to Costco I saw several people handling everything to get to the barcode so they could scan it.