Member-only story
The Disunited States of PandemMerica
Pulling Apart When We Should Be Pulling Together
I went to Trader Joe’s on Friday.
The sidewalk outside was taped off in six-foot increments and two staff members guarded the door. One cart out: One cart in. When carts were returned, they were swabbed down with disinfectant before being given to the next person to be admitted.
Inside the store, the same spacing was tape-enforced at the cash register. And the cashiers asked that customers remain at a distance until they had to either hand over (filthy!) cash or run a card through the (regularly cleaned) atm terminal.
I wore an N95 mask and gloves, my standard fashion choice these days whenever I’m not in either my car or my own home. I saw perhaps two people in masks, on this excursion and perhaps two more, different, people with gloves.
There was some eye-rolling at the costumery . . . in both directions, frankly.
Saturday, I walked a block and a half to Shaw’s, my neighborhood supermarket, a trip during which I saw one other mask and one other pair of gloves, and not a scintilla of either distancing or disinfecting either outside or inside the store.
Scurrying home with my groceries, it was hard to resist the temptation to raid the dictionary for…