Items

• 2021-02-25

  Conditions of Release

  My 80-year old mother got her second vaccine dose on January 25. She is now anxious to get out in the world. She wants to resume doing her own grocery shopping, and she really wants to get her hair done. I half-jokingly told her that the family would have to confer about her "conditions of release" (the kind of term used when people are released from jail or prison). After having just such a conference, we decided that after the second shot had two weeks to become effective, we thought it would be all right for her to start shopping in stores again, under the condition that she of course wore a mask and went out when stores would not be crowded. We advised her not to get her hair done, as that would put her in close proximity to one person indoors for an extended period. Mom was disappointed about that, but accepted the conclusion.
• 2020-02-05

  Pandemic Brand Reviews: Sprouts Farmer's Market Grocery

  There is a Sprout's less than 2 miles away from my house. My parents would often go to buy fresh produce and snacks from the bulk section. Due to the pandemic, Sprout's no longer offers their self serve bulk section. Instead, there are prefilled bags. My parents no longer frequent Sprout's, I think because of this new policy, or perhaps better prices elsewhere. Because my close friend works at Sprout's, I visit her at work. With the exception of the bulk section, everything is still the same. However, I do see the curbside pickup and grocery delivery options being used more. My local Sprouts has designated some parking spots for curbside pickup. One time when I was visiting my friend, she was on Instacart (grocery delivery) shopping duty that day. I walked around with her around the store as she picked up the items that the customer requested. She had to be very quick and find the items immediately. Not only that, but if the phone beeped, she had to drop everything she was doing to deliver a curbside order. Being an essential worker in customer service is very hard work. I hope that people can acknowledge and appreciate their hustle.
• 2020-02-05

  Pandemic Brand Reviews: I Miss Costco

  Costco is my absolute favorite place. It genuinely makes me so happy. Even going during the pandemic makes me happy. However, Costco is definitely not the same as pre-pandemic. Obviously, there are no free samples anymore. This is because it would be a health concern. Although I will miss munch and shopping, I understand that this cannot be expected during a pandemic. As of now, they have the free sample stations up but with just a display of the food. I know that the free sample employees are contracted by Costco. I haven't seen some of the familiar faces recently. This makes me worried, I hope they are still doing okay during the pandemic. I know that Costco cares about their employees, so I hope they found away for the free sample people to still keep their jobs. Another change I've noticed in my local Costco is the food court. The food court is Costco's loss leader, the delicious and extremely affordable food lures customers in and in turn makes them shop. Due to COVID, Costco's food court menu has been severely shorted. Fan favorites, such as the $1.50 hotdog with a free drink, chicken bake, and pizzas are still available. However, they are not the same products anymore. The hot dog, although still delicious, has a smaller bun. The chicken bake is completely different now. It looks more machine-made, and according to my father, does not taste the same. This really disappoints me, as the chicken bake is my absolute favorite item on the menu. The pizzas are only offered in cheese and pepperoni; the combo flavor has been kicked off. This also disappointed me because I only like the combo pizza. In addition, there are self checkout kiosks where you order and pay, then go up to the window to pick up your food. Other than the food, Costco is still the same. I think life will only be normal again for me when I can go to Costco on the weekend, shop and nibble on the free samples, and still leave room for a chicken bake and combo pizza to go.
• 
  2021-01-24

  Home Food Delivery: What a Treat!

  One of the most basic survival needs is food, so when the pandemic hit many individuals were struggling to meet this need with the changed food landscape. Restaurants were closing, grocery stores had restricted supplies, going grocery shopping could be dangerous in terms of exposure to the virus and exposure to people fighting over items, and many people weren’t in the habit of cooking at home every day. So this most basic of needs underwent significant shifts due to the pandemic. I dislike shopping, cooking, looking up a recipe, cleaning up the kitchen, and even eating. So I tend to eat out quite a bit. I pivoted during the pandemic to getting home food delivery and that change has been one of the few positive effects of the pandemic. It saves me time, reduces stress, and improves my health because of the healthy food choices.
• 
  2020-08-09

  First Potato Harvest

  I have been a home gardener for a few years now, and love to cook using the things from my garden. When Covid started to hit the US in late February/early March, the resulting panic resulted in widespread shortages in the grocery stores for many common items of American households. News reports consistently told us that food supply networks were in jeapordy. I had never grown potatoes before (though I have grown sweet potatoes), but I decided that for its nutritional value to space ratio, it would be worth growing potatoes this year. Thankfully, the media had seemingly overblown the shortage problem (at least in my area), but that didn't matter because I enjoyed growing potatoes and had a great harvest. My first dish I made with my homegrown potatoes (and homegrown carrots) was a delishous pot roast. I was able to include a glass of y homebrewed beer to complete the meal. Sitting down for this meal was certainly a bright spot during the pandemic and was the culmination of several months of labor and enjoyment.
• 
  2020-06-21

  6 Feet Closer to my Fridge

  This picture represents my past few months because it has brought me closer to my kitchen. I used to always go out to eat for all my meals, but because of quarantine, I have spent more time in my kitchen. This has led me to doing my own grocery stopping and experimenting with different recipes and even improvising with whatever is left in my fridge. I think it really shows my Junior year because it symbolizes a different lifestyle where I have to do more on my own. I feel like online school taught me how to depend on myself more than my teachers and school resources, in a good way. Despite all the struggles this pandemic has brought many people, there were also many opportunities for growth and to learn new things (general and about yourself).
• 2021-01-20

  Rules

  I get all the rules and how they are necessary to be healthy but the one thing that sucks the most about Covid is the masks. Image riding down to the grocery store with your friend and when you get down there the person says you can't enter without a mask. Then you have to ride all the way back to your house gat something soft to go over your face then you can go back. You get back to the store you go in and there is no more toilet paper or hand sanitizers. You walk past that weird aisle and then you get to the candy aisle, every kid's heaven. You grab your favorite candy then get in line. yo get to the line and realize that it wraps around the store. You run to the back of the line to make sure you save your spot. You grab out your phone to text your mom that your going t be late. She says yeah I get it its Covid. You chat with your friend about all the other stuff that is going on in the world like BLM and Trump not being president anymore. You finally get to the front of the line you buy the candy and head back to your house. That's covid for you my friend says.
• 2021-01-15

  My experience of irtual learning

  My routine for my online learning from the corona Virus is was odd at first because we were not in school and fully online. the benefits were I not to spend more time with family but the downside is that we couldn't leave our house but only for groceries and we could not see any friends or go to school.
• 2020-12-09

  Shopping during covid

  we've all been able to shop at our convince with no troubles until covid. Now shopping isn't as simple as It was before. Now we are urged to wear face protection, a certain number of customers are only allowed in at a certain time, creating long lines out side of the shopping establishments. The severity of covid was at an all time high closing most to all retail stores, leaving open the essential need stores, such as grocery, convenience and pharmacies.
• 
  2020-05

  Critical Industry Employee Authorization to Travel Regardless of the Time of Day

  When this ongoing pandemic initially began, people were not sure how long the extremities would last or whether COVID-19 was as bad as some people claimed it to be. As we now know, the wearing of the mask has become politicized with some movements and ideologies, and the safety and wellbeing of the community is being contested with freedom, pandemic conspiracies and/or blatant denial. It is now November 6, 2020, and I can safely say we as a global community have seen ridiculous and ineffable events unravel over the past year. Sadly, these unique occurrences are far from ending as the pandemic is worsening in terms of case spikes and as the people are growing ever more weary. I am reflecting during this election period, looking back at the strange changes I haven't seen before in my life, and recently I found this work document I had at home. The document presented is a paper granting the holder the right to go about their day, allowing them to travel when others were not allowed.This paper was given to me at work during May 2020 just a curfew took place. Although the mandated curfew in San Francisco only lasted about a week, I remember that people did take it seriously more or less as I walked to work barely seeing anyone outside. The paper would help me if the police stopped me at any point. My parents were worried that I would get pulled over since I worked evening shifts (luckily I didn't have this happen). What is interesting and scary about this document was that others could have been fined or got into trouble if they were stopped; this was something I never considered at that time. Others may state that this document is scary in terms of historical precedence to the nineteenth century in America. This can be tied to freedom papers in segregated and/or slave based areas in the American south when African Americans had to possess such papers stating their business either on their or someone else's behalf. The repercussions otherwise could have been horribly severe if they didn't have said papers. Thus, this paper holds power and grants amnesty from punishment. Two different periods with different purposes but similar implications and deterrents. Interesting what can be created during a modern pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-20

  Face Masks. Corona Virus Media

  This media is a photograph of several shoppers leaving Walmart all within 6 feet of each other and wearing face masks. I chose this image because I work in retail and experience and enforce this requirement on a daily basis. The reality of wearing face masks while completing everyday tasks is still something that I personally am getting used to. Face masks create a barrier especially in the workplace because it makes it difficult to communicate with customers and coworkers. When working in retail stores you are supposed to create and maintain a connection with the customer in order to push sales. This is difficult to do when wearing a face mask because you have a difficult time speaking and maintaining a distance while shopping, selling, and cashiering multiple customers.
• 
  2020-03-14

  No More Pasta

  This photo means that the pandemic was huge enough to impact people’s lives. They took all the essential supplies from the supermarket. Peoples’ will to live is huge and that makes them able to survive. That situation in the market was kind of a fight. The day before he took this photo, the French government announced a national lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He realized how the government announcement to lock people down without any prevention could cause chaotic situations.
• 
  2020-03-13

  The great costco chicken shortage

  My partner and I went to Costco to do regular grocery shopping for the week when we stumbled on the emptiest isles we have ever seen at any Costco. I remember turning to my partner and saying “This feels unreal. I have never seen a store this empty and I don’t think that I ever will again”. It was still March, and my partner was just told by his job to stay home and that the office would be closed for a while until Covid was under control. We didn’t know at that time seven months later he would still be working from home. It was eerie being in a store that was so empty and it is hard to explain what it felt like to see that. It was at a time of high panic for others but I hadn’t felt that same panic until that moment. I was very worried we wouldn't be able to get chicken for the foreseeable future and I didn’t know what we were going to do. I panic purchased a five pound bag of dry pinto beans that are still living in the back of a cupboard in my kitchen, unopened, on that trip. I think of my quarantine experience in multiple stages, the first to being before Costco, and after the great Costco chicken shortage. I think other people felt the same way I did; After they saw people panic buying, they started panic buying or fretting more than they may have been in the months before quarantine. The beginning feelings of panic did do good for me though, they made me more conscious of what we are eating and how much food we actually buy. I feel like the changes have benefited me for the better. Arizona State University HST485
• 
  2020-10-15

  Do You Know I'm Smiling?

  I pride myself on being a friendly southerner, mainly while out shopping or eating at restaurants. I know retail and food service employees have very difficult jobs, so I always try to be friendly, understanding and tip well. One of the ways I’ve always tried to appear friendly is by smiling. But now with the COVID-19 pandemic, masks are required pretty much everywhere. Essential workers are overworked, and now my face, covered with a mask from the nose down is hiding my smile. They cannot tell how friendly I appear; now I just have to try and say loudly(so they can understand me from behind the mask), that I don’t mind how long I had to wait, I understand they are busy, and it’s okay. I usually try to ease their concern with a nice smile. I never realized how much not being able to smile at people would impact me. I’ve never felt more pressure to “smile with my eyes” or “smize” as Tyra Banks would famously tell the models on the America’s Next Top Model television show. Life’s hard for smilers, no one can see our beautiful expressions with masks on.
• 
  2020-10-05

  What influenced me during the pandemic

  Hello everyone, my name is Eddie Wu. I was born US but raised in Taiwan, a country that is nearby China. That means we are the first few countries that is influenced by COVID-19 due to the geography distance. At that time, my family was separated, me and my siblings living at Tempe, taking classes. My parents were at Taiwan that time facing the COVID-19, my parents are asked to stay home and put on masks when they go out. Then one more month later, the first case has happened in US. First, I think I will just stay here doing normal classes and will stay normal. Then my parents suddenly asks my siblings to go back to Taiwan, because Taiwanese government have already showing their ability to control the pandemic at Taiwan. So, it suddenly changed my day that time. My siblings are back to Taiwan, and I stayed here alone. It is scary that while the first few cases are founded in US, I am the only few person who put on masks in public places. I still remember at March, when I went to one of the store to get groceries, I have my masks on and my gloves on, some other customers told her child that I am sick so I put on my masks. During the pandemic time, it does change the ways I get groceries, socializing with friends, and taking class. The pandemic have make me getting bigger amount of groceries in once. When I am trying to doing activities with friends, mostly we are doing it on voice chat apps, if we have to meet outside, I always ask them to have their mask prepared, and also I will bring hand sanitizer to clean our hands. The last the changes the most is my classes, I am an UAS student, most of my class will be really hard to teach online because we don’t actually see the items in real life if the class is online, so most of my class are really hard for me that time, because it is online, somethings aren’t clear enough and I need to spent more hours to learn it myself. These are some major things that changes in my life during pandemic.
• 
  2020-09-20

  Interview with Erika

  Erika offered the story of her personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and her thoughts on the broader situation affecting the world.
• 2020-05

  A Month at my Grandparents

  I was stuck at my grandparents for a month with my two brothers, sister, cousin, and my grandparents during the start of the first wave of COVID-19. We didn't really do anything but stay inside. When we first got there, we had to wipe off my PlayStation 4, PlayStation controller, Headset, and all of my PlayStation games. When we got groceries, we would wipe them off and let them dry overnight. The worst part about the entire thing was that I had to shut my PlayStation off a lot and had to be off at a certain time. It was upstairs so I couldn't try and play on it at night but I also got up at 8:00am or 9:00am for online classes that didn't even count as a grade.
• 
  2020-08-27T21:35:00

  The wait

  Well for a while it was really hard to find toilet paper. Like really why would someone buy all the toilet paper
• 
  March 16, 2020

  Students Stocking Up for the Quarantine

  This was the last day we spent on the same campus. At the time we didn’t know it was going to be goodbye. We were all trying to stock up on what we needed for a couple weeks to spend some dining dollars [on campus cash equivalency]. Clearly as RIT students we had our priorities in order. One of my friends had a basket full of Monster Energy Drinks, and the other had armfuls of boxed pasta.
• 
  2020-06-24

  Restore Pandemic Pay // Make it Permanant Poster

  A poster shared on social media in support of advocacy work being done by a friend of the artist. At the beginning of the pandemic, workers in Canada's major grocery stores were given pay increases across the board by their individual employers, as compensation for the additional work and precautions they had to undertake and the hazards they would face having to interact with many different people during the near complete shut down. As time has gone on and other business sectors have begun to open up, the grocery chains have repealed this pay increase, a move which many workers and supporters consider unfair given they are still facing the same risks they have been since the beginning of the pandemic in Canada.
• 
  2020-07-08

  "We understand some of you are upset, but please direct your feedback towards us"

  A tweet from Ottawa Public Health addressing those who have been taking out their anger regarding the city's recent move to mandate masks in public spaces towards business employees attempting to enforce the rule.
• 
  2020-05-24

  Grocery Store Patrons Do not Comply with Social Distancing

  Guys! We're supposed to maintain social distancing! Some people, no matter what, just will NOT obey the rule. People crowd you wherever you go. Especially in checkout lines, people tend to crowd close. Once I worked up my nerve and told the gentleman behind me to please step back. He immediately lifted his arms about a foot out from his sides and started taking giant steps backwards, lifting up his knees, until he reached the wall of the store. Jeez!
• 
  2020-05-29

  Grocery Store Worker Still Wears Lipstick Under Her Mask

  My brother-in-law is a grocery-store worker in Texas. As the numbers of positive Covid cases rise, he continues to go to work. He believes in his heart that his work is important and that he is an essential worker. Jobs previously overlooked such as truckers, grocery store workers, or waste management, Now Americans are celebrating these workers.
• 2020-05-22

  Many

  The shelves are no longer empty. Everyone is less nervous or stress about the pandemic and no longer hoarding all the supplies.
• 
  2020-04-11

  New social distancing restrictions are posted at local Shaws market - Cohasset, MA

  Image of notice at local Shaws market restricting occupancy to a max of 50 shoppers at a time.
• 
  2020-04-11

  Shoppers in new social distancing line at local Shaws - Cohasset, MA

  Image of shoppers forming new social distancing line at local Shaws market.
• 
  04/11/2020

  My husband wearing a DIY cloth mask in line outside the local Shaws market - Cohasset, MA

  Image of my husband Tom O'Brien wearing his newly home-made cloth mask and standing in the new social distance line formation outside the local Shaws.
• 
  2020-04-06

  Grocery List

  This is a copy of a grocery list my husband and I put together. The circled things were for one store - Aldi’s. The other stuff was likely for Polly’s, a local grocery store. We used to use our phones to make lists and bring them into the store. That has changed. We now make a general list of what we need on paper. Then we write down what we need fron one store on paper so we can discard it and not have to worry about using, touching or bringing a phone into the store while grocery shopping.
• 2020-04-16

  Journal of a Walmart employee

  Journal entries.
• 
  2020-05-01

  Grocery Stores During Covid-19

  As this pandemic is dangerous and can cause many deaths, the grocery stores have taken precautions and have made aisles one way. if you need something on that aisle, you must go the way in which the arrows are pointing.
• 
  2020-05-01

  Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

  Collection of photos of various signs regarding coronavirus safety in local parks and stores. A marker of the disruption of our lives and a dedication to protecting our citizens. April 15-May 1
• 2020-05-25

  My Coronavirus Costco Trips

  A personal account of how the pandemic has changed everyday life.
• 
  2020-04-01

  Pennywise Coronavirus Meme

  This meme was funny to me because it shows the extremes that people are willing to go to, in order to get things like hand sanitizer during this time. This relates to my life because whenever I've gone to the store for groceries, I see signs in the front saying "no hand sanitizer, no sanitization wipes, no toilet paper, etc." or "limit 1 hand sanitizer per person". I didn't know it would get that crazy, but I guess Pennywise has a new way to get kids to come into the sewers with him in 2020. #CSUS #HIST15H
• 
  2020-04-03

  People encouraged to sign up for CSA

  People are being encouraged to sign up for CSA (community supported agriculture) to support local farmers and eat healthy during the pandemic. People stocked up at the grocery store when the pandemic started so it became harder for people to buy certain items. Those who lost jobs have been struggling even more to be able to afford food. #NortheasternJOTPY
• 
  2020-03-14

  Wealth of Nations

  The image shows the aftermath of a grocery store two days after a state of emergency was issued in Virginia and all schools were closed due to Covid-19
• 2020-04-30

  The Great Grocery Store Run

  Throughout my whole life I have never seen people so scared and/or lost like I did during this pandemic. Hearing on the news that the COVID-19 pandemic was sweeping across the country and that we were encouraged to stock up on essential supplies I decided to head to the nearest Walmart and get the things I would need for daily life to continue. As I walk into the grocery store, I could immediately feel the panic that was upon every individual that was in the building. Shopping carts full to the max as well as almost everybody having on mask and/or gloves. Shelves were almost completely empty with nothing really left for the workers to stock them back up with. People fighting over items that we considered very small and unimportant just a few days ago. I was completely shocked at just how real this invisible virus had become to everybody,and what people were willing to do to make sure that they were able to survive. A day I will always remember as the Great Grocery Store Run. #REL101
• 
  2020-04-23

  Missing foods

  While pandemic is going on, there are many people who end up buying more than the amounts that they need for themselves. This then leaves families who are in actual need to not have something healthy to provide for their families. #REL101
• 
  2020-03-17

  F*** the Corona, Gotty Boi Chris, New Orleans, LA

  New Orleans bounce artist Gotty Boi Chris released the song "F*** the Corona" in March 2020. Lyrics describe shortages in stores resulting from panic buying due to the stay-at-home order.
• 
  2020-03

  Greed causes the Caos

  As the news outlets and the media flood fear into the public eye, greed and human nature show their true colors. Mid-March 2020
• 
  2020-04-19

  The Covid Diaries Entry #11

  My experiences of this pandemic.Entry 11. enter into the gauntlet that is Trader Joe’s, if you dare. (but not during critical week). April 8, 2020. I award a halo to Chris Steele for paying for my groceries when my card declined. I throw a pitchfork at the tomato sauce jar for smashing to the ground and creating a scene of much distress. Since Corona inception to current
• 
  Since Corona inception to current

  The Covid Diaries Entry #8

  My experiences of this pandemic Entry 8. playing an endless game of scavenger hunt for coveted supplies. April 2, 2020.HOT requests: chlorox, rising yeast, potted herbs, paper goods, swiffer mops, reusable gloves, sanitizer, any disinfectant (99.9%), flour, tylenol.
• 
  2020-03-29

  The Covid Diaries Entry #5

  My experiences of this pandemic. Entry 5. soaking in vital sun rays while in queue to buy groceries - 6ft - *important to support olders/wisest & local business/* March 29, 2020.ps the masked dog is fictional. Though I would not be surprised to see this as people are weird with their pets.
• 
  2020-04-25

  Corona Virus Grocery Meme

  This picture is a perfect depiction of the unnecessarily extreme measures some Americans are taking during grocery shopping, i.e. covering up abundantly, stocking up on toilet paper, etc. This humor is more targeted at making fun of the ignorance of some people.
• 
  2020-04-16

  Grocery Store Shortages

  This was a photo of my local grocery store pasta sauce isle on April 16th. I know I have probably seen a dozen photos of the same or similar situations, but this really made me think about not only how I took the availability of items for granted, but also the people who work there and their frustration as well. Many grocery store workers are experiencing frustration and dread at work because of shopper irritation and frustration over unavailable items. There were obviously several choices left, but not what I usually use. That made me reflect on how we as a society become so entrenched in our own routine that we often forget the challenges that others experience all over the world and the complete unavailability of necessities that we take for granted. Shortages are a challenge to all of us and this has made me far more respectful of that fact and all those that are impacted by them.
• 
  2020-04-08

  Local Italian cafe restyled as grocer

  Local cafes can only serve takeaway so our local Italian cafe Tre Fontane is reinventing itself as an Italian grocer to stay in business
• 2020-03-29

  Diary Entry

  The ”lay off” Day 7 Whatsthisday, the 307th of Archpril The clocks changed tonight. I only know because I happened to be awake when they switched. An odd experience. One minute it’s 01:59 and the next 03:00. Yesterday was Earth Hour I’d missed that too, but Magdalena remembered and we spent a sleepy hour reading by candle and lamplight before heading to bed at 21:15. It’s a sort of tradition now. I missed both of these events because the available bandwidth to process news is simply overwhelmed with Covid-19. For a microscopic virus, it’s footprint in the macro world has become gargantuan, undeniable. Even for those for whom denial had become a way of life. I went to bed too early and now I can't sleep, so I’m browsing The Guardian and eating Clementines. We used to call them Mandarin oranges when I was a kid, but in Sweden, they call them Clementines for some reason. The US news is just apocalyptic. That’s a word I use far too much, but it really is the only one that fits now. Multiple, simultaneously accelerating sites of infection, the death rate approaching a thousand a day and the federal response remains jerky, incoherent, contradictory. At every news conference, Trump is like a bear in a trap, enraged, striking out blindly, snout spraying foam and blood with every snarl. He seems to sense a looming future that involves piano-wire and a sturdy lampost on some broad american boulevard. The lunacy is incomparable, without precedent in my lifetime. We are watching the Suez-cide of an empire in real time. In Sweden, things remain comparatively calm, but the undercurrent of concern is electric. We all feel it. We all know the exponential curve is on the way for us too. Our own local "Empire", the EU, is under tremendous strain as well, but here at least the causes remain pedestrian and institutional: the predictable outcome of a deliberately weak central authority rather then some bloated Nero. When this is over, we need to take a closer look at that. The house is cold – I’ve turned off the electric heating as spring pushes the temperatures higher, but it’s 0 degrees out there – so I creep down to start a fire. This is a delicate business at 03:30 in the morning or 02:30, whatever. The point is, it’s the middle of the night, and starting a fire tends to be a noisy obtrusive business, what with the roaring blaze, cast iron stove and so forth. I manage to get it just right, a minimum of metallic pings and ticks, the air flow turned down low to throttle brighter flames but not the coals. Satisfactory. I get back to writing. We’ve been in voluntary lockdown for about 2 weeks now. The first week was just a conventional work from home and then the layoff came. That was week 2. Today/Tonight/This morning, we are heading into week 3. That doesn’t mean we don’t do anything and I’d planned a series of activities with a minimum of social interaction for Saturday. Two things actually, a trip to hand stuff in to the 2nd hand place (Vinden which literally translates as Attic) and the open air recycling center. The fruits of a week with too much time on my hands. To that we've added a trip to ICA Maxi for a final round of supplies buying. The handoff at Vinden was perfect. There were some other people dropping stuff off, but we waited in the car for them to finish and then dumped our stuff. Eight bags of assorted clothes, utensils and older electronic odds and ends. Social interactions? Zero. Then we headed to Maxi. It’s dawning on me that this isn’t ideal. I’ve had misgivings about heading into an enormous shopping center in the middle of a global pandemic. Shopping should really be done only during off peak times and Saturday morning is about as on peak as you can get. This is feeling more and more like an avoidable error. I clutch my hand sanitizer and pull on my gloves. However, when we finally pull into the parking garage I’m encouraged. There are very few cars. We don’t need that much stuff, so instead of a trolley we get one of those rolling baskets and head in. There are plenty of people about, but Maxi (as the name suggests) is very large. It has acres of floor space and I can immediately see that people are distributed for maximal social distancing. There is a weird synchronicity to their movements, as if everyone is generating a repelling magnetic field, they slide past each other with meters of clearance. Even when people are speaking to each other or staff, they seem to be standing on either side of a 2 meter gorge. We pinball our way to the cat food (these goddam cats will be the death of us), traversing a wide arc through pet toys and obscure cleaning products, it’s a very lightly trafficked part of the store and we meet no one. Then down into fruit and vegetables to pick up oranges, clementines, apples and bananas. I read somewhere you can freeze fresh fruit and I want to try it. Magdalena has more practical goals in mind and selects the ingredients for a salad. In the fruit and veg section we actually bump into our handyman, Lars. Not literally of course. He has a heart condition and we don't want to kill him, so we stand either side of the gorge and shout pleasantries. Then onto dairy for milk (reason number two, after cat food, we are here at all) and two big plugs of cheese. Then I decide I want to get a loaf of freshly baked bread, but it’s a dilemma. No packaging. If I touch the bread with my gloves, anything on the gloves will transfer and then I’ll shove that material into my stupid fat face when we get home. I opt to remove the gloves, sanitize, pop the bread into the bags provided, then put the gloves back on. A month ago this aberrant, peculiar behavior would have attracted stares. Today, not the merest ripple of interest. The world has moved on. We head to the check outs. They are well manned and we immediately find one with a single shopper finishing up. I realize then we should have self-scanned all this crap. Now the checkout person is going to touch all our stuff, breath on it and so forth. While they contaminate everything I’m blipping my card. The blipping is great because you just hover the card over the reader. Nothing actually touches anything. You still have to punch in the code on the keypad (I shudder at this even though I’m wearing gloves) but the whole business is so much superior to the epidemiological nightmare of handing physical cash back and forth. Uuurgh. Cash. Filthy lucre. What a mad unsanitary idea cash is. Or more correctly in Sweden, was. Another big plus in Sweden’s fight against the spread of the virus. Cash is no longer king. It’s not even a local warlord and all its Statues were pulled down years ago. We head out to the car, sanitize, and home. Social interactions? Two.
• 2020-04-12

  Diary Entry

  The "lay off" Day 21 We broke quarantine yesterday to visit Malin for her birthday. First trip to Gothenburg in about two weeks. We also met up with Richard Brodie (he had agreed to part with an elderly computer screen), ordered pizza in a restaurant and shopped for groceries on the way home. I notice that the cashiers in the ICA are all behind a massive Plexiglas screen now. We talked about and justified it on the grounds that it was travel within a single region (Västra Götaland) we were not infected (Magdalena and I have been in complete isolation for more than the incubation period) and we would only be a group of 3. We were hand sanitizing the bejesus out of our hands all day and grouped several tasks deliberately to limit the chance of getting infected and then passing it on. Still. A lot of brief social contacts. A LOT. Now we need re-isolate and see what turns up in the little petri dish that is us ... Malin was in great form and settled into her lovely new apartment. As a gift, we had brought the closest thing we have that can pass as a family heirloom. Basically our first piece of furniture, a battered old chest we bought in Dún Laoghaire in 1994 when Magdalena was pregnant with Malin and we we're planning our move to our new apartment in the City Centre of Dublin. Some nice symmetry there. Every 14:00 CET on weekdays we all tune into the Daily Folkhälsomyndigheten Show to be reassured that all is going well. So far so ... uncertain. Deaths in Sweden continue to climb and Stockholm is pretty bad. In terms of EU averages, Sweden in the aggregate is on the upper end of the mid-range, a little worse than Ireland but much better than the UK or the Netherlands. Only Stockholm can be compared to Italy or Spain, but even here, the gap remains wide. Västragötaland and Skåne remain stubbornly flat and intensive care occupations across the country have been flat for weeks with 20% capacity still available. I'd really, really like to see either the death rate or the number of new cases flattening, but honestly, we just are not seeing anything statistically significant yet. The direction on all metrics continues upward and I have to admit that worries me. It seems like every week we're saying, "we'll know NEXT week", then next week comes and things are a little bit worse, but still clearly (apparently?) under control. Another week it is then. The nightmare scenario is that magical tipping point where all the curves suddenly hockey-stick upward. When that happens - and we have seen this in multiple places around the world - you are looking at weeks of chaos, overrun hospitals and rapidly escalating death rates. The only thing that gets things back under control are severe lock-downs. A more intensive Swedish lock-down could be coming if these metrics don't start flattening and then dipping appreciably soon and it's vital to not leave that too late. If we've made a mistake in our approach, we need to change course. That's good science. So, y'know, don't fuck this up Anders. But this is a marathon not a 100 meters sprint. There will not be a vaccine for 12 - 18 months. There may be effective medications, but these will require months to test, manufacture and distribute. Strict, military lock-downs cannot continue for more than a month or two and cycles of lock-downs are surely going to play havoc with peoples mental health and the economy. From that long-haul perspective the Swedish strategy continues to have merit. What are the rest of you thinking? Worried? Concerned we've been too relaxed?
• 
  2020-04-18

  Diary in the Time of Corona

  I woke up this morning and decided to write. Why today? What’s different about today than yesterday, or the day before? I have no answers to these questions. It’s Day 25 of the quarantine. The sky is dull gray and it’s raining, my windows streaked with wet wavy lines that make them look like etched glass. Today is not so different from yesterday, except yesterday it wasn’t raining. And yesterday we went to the supermarket. That place fills me with terror. The aisles are not wide enough to keep the required six feet social distance. In the produce section it’s inevitable that two or more people will end up inspecting the bananas or the lettuce at the same time. When that happens we move apart as far as we can but we don’t walk away, as if the lettuce or the bananas or whatever are a territory we refuse to surrender. We do avert our eyes, ashamed to look our adversaries in the face. Upstairs in my bedroom I hear the rain against the roof, a soft, steady patter. The marsh is enveloped in a fine mist with ochre and green grasses and a few trees yielding small mauve flowers. I’m waiting for phone calls from the dead: my father, who passed away nineteen years ago and my mother, who passed away three years ago. Why do we want what we cannot have? Or is this the nature of grief, that after the sharp stabbing pains of loss a knot of slow sadness begins to form and 2 wind itself around our hearts, once in a while tugging so hard we’re reminded sharply once again of those who are gone? Maybe that’s what writing is for: not the documentation of what we have but the recovery of what we’ve lost. I’m reading a book by Lydia Davis called The End of the Story. It’s a novel about a woman writing a novel about a brief but intense love affair that ended thirteen years earlier. She can’t finish the novel because she can’t find the right way to end it, or so she says. But we know she can’t finish the novel because finishing it will end her connection to her lost lover, and she doesn’t want to experience such pain and grief all over again. The rain has stopped and the sky has shifted to a softer gray. The yellow and dark greens of the leaves are startling and bright in the thin light. Lydia Davis is a descriptive writer. She paints vivid pictures of the natural world: sound of ocean waves, piquant scent of eucalyptus, aggressive jade plants. But in her obsessions and delusions and isolation from friends she is not the best companion for me right now. ** Day 26. I am a witness to the pandemic. Everyone is a witness. But I’m not risking my life like the nurses and doctors and other workers on the front lines. I feel like a coward. 3 Today is sunny, with a cloudless sky of soft, washed blue. When you are quarantined weather becomes very important, like a prophecy or a sign of progress, or stagnation. On fine days I could go outside for a walk but usually I don’t want to. On the days I’ve gone for walks there’s an unspoken tug-of-war on the sidewalk when others approach: who will be first to step out of the way. My husband and I are always first to move. We agree we tend to give a wide berth earlier than necessary. Still, each time we veer into the street so walkers can pass I feel we’ve offered a consideration that was not reciprocated. This gives me a feeling of victimization that makes me even more irritable than I already am. On a recent walk I couldn’t help noticing that everything in my neighborhood reminded me of the virus. Small shrubs with crimson buds. A mask in the middle of the asphalt, awaiting asphyxiation. Street signs that say Dead End. I never realized there were so many dead ends where I live. When I’m overcome with anxiousness I prepare a meal. Before the time of corona I was a reluctant cook, and we often ate dinners at the local trattoria. But of course that’s no longer possible. I don’t have the patience or creativity to be a decent home cook. But now I find comfort in assembling a dish or two. I experience a sense of accomplishment in completing what feels like a meaningful activity. Food is no longer readily or easily available. If I’m missing an ingredient I won’t run to the supermarket wearing with my mask and disposable gloves. With every trip to the market comes the risk of 4 additional exposure. Grocery shopping demands enormous amounts of energy. So I try to plan ahead, which isn’t easy when you’re anxious all the time. Today’s side dish is quinoa tabbouleh with scallions, tomatoes, feta, and fresh lemon. Even writing the word “fresh” refreshes my depleted spirits. Before preparing the tabbouleh I looked out the window, my gateway, my connection to the world outside my home. My attention was drawn to a single orange-breasted robin stepping across the grass. I watched for a while, since now I have time for such contemplative activity. The robin began to peck at the ground, circling and wandering, circling and pecking. I had the idea he was searching for food and not finding any. I turned away. Things I never noticed before. The whiskered tips on the scallions, like a man’s white-gray beard. The amount of plastic and paper towels I waste even though I claim to be pro-environment. I think of my mother growing up during the Great Depression with barely enough food and not enough money. I have coats in the closet, sweaters in the drawers, a stocked refrigerator. Was I really so clueless and ungrateful? ** Day 27. Be mindful, stay in the present. I am trying to be present but the news on the morning radio announced 40,000 Americans are dead from the virus. How is this possible? The future has become our dystopian present. 5 Last night we visited with our kids on Zoom. Such interactions are one of the challenges of this particular moment, the physical separation from loved ones. These meetings in cyberspace reinforce the sense of enforced isolation: my adult children isolated in their homes within an hour or so of mine. I miss them. They might as well be living on the moon. I’ve heard stories of doctors and nurses sleeping in their garages so as not expose their families. This is worse than my experience, much worse, because their lives are in imminent danger. Nonetheless, their experience does not erase the pain I feel as a mother and new grandmother who can’t touch or hug my children. In my home state of New Jersey, 40 percent of more than 4,200 coronavirus deaths have been linked to long-term care facilities. My mother was a dementia patient in one such facility for six years. I thank heaven I do not have to worry about the virus killing my mother in a nursing home. The past seeps into the present. The present is the future, for the time-being. I’m reminded of the words of T.S. Eliot: “Time present and time past/ are both perhaps present in time future/ And time future contained in time past.” Perhaps our sense of separation between past, present, and future was always illusory. My brother contracted the virus a few weeks ago and was ill with a fever that spiked as high as 102.8. Mercifully he is recovering well. Past, present, and future, they are merged into the nightmare of the virus. I just read about a 25-year-old woman, a Latino grad student studying marriage and family therapy, who died of complications from the virus which she 6 likely contracted while working at a clinic for Latinos in one of the corona hotspots in Queens. I am overcome. I can’t write anymore.
• 
  2020-04-17

  Graffiti, Davis Square T station - detail

  Free groceries for all in need - 22 million Americans are now without work.
• 2020-04-18

  Some people don't care about grocery store rules

  A small story about my tales of working at a grocery store during our pandemic. As of the last couple of weeks, my grocery store has had a limit on certain items like meat, water, eggs, toilet paper, etc. I was working in at customer service this day and I was making sure things were in order, wasn't really busy anyway. We had this couple come up to me and ask if I was ready to check them out and I directed them to a register, but before they walked away I realized they had 2 cases of water and 5 things of chicken. I informed them of our limit on those specific items right now, even though we had signed by each of these items explaining the same thing. The husband told me " What if I just come back in and buy the rest, are you going to stop me?". That really caught me off guard because it was such a disregard for basic rules. I told him still, he has to put some of it back, he kept joking around he was gonna put it back or come back in. He played it off like I wasn't paying attention by just putting the water back. He put it on some random shelf right behind him too. He still got into line with all the chicken. I told another cashier to tell them the same thing. So as they checked out they had 2 more cashiers tell them. I was told the guy said him and his wife would split the order so they could get all the chicken. I can't imagine just wanting something so bad you gotta just bend around the rules to get it, especially when those rules are in place to make things fair to other people. In the end, he had to put the 3 extra chickens back because of a manager getting involved. I don't know why people can't respect simple rules.