The Chaos Diaries - 4/30/20

Yesterday, I did go to Wallyworld. 

And to kill the suspense up front, it was the kitty litter making the cat sneeze and balk about going into the litterbox.  As soon as Hubs changed it out, the cat went in and didn't sneeze at all, peed without issue, and the general sneezing has lessened considerably.  It'll probably stop once I clean the house again.

Now, here's how the day went...

First things first, I made a colossal grocery list.  Like damn and whoa.  Then off I went.  Hit the bank first.  They informed me that they'll be opening the lobby back up again on Monday.  Yay!  Everyone is fine there.  Stopped for gas.  $1.29 a gallon here.  Everyone is fine there.  Hit the feed store and got eight 50lb bags of whole corn for the deer.  Everyone there is fine.

Unfortunately, I got the sullen dude loading corn into my car this time.  I told him 'put 6 bags in the back seat and 2 in the trunk'.  He throws two in the back seat and moves the forklift to the back of my car, where he starts throwing bags in the trunk.  I stopped him after two and repeated my instructions.  Man, was he pissed as he moved the forklift back next to the car.  I've been over this with him before.  I need a certain weight distribution in my car or it drives weird, which is why I always load corn into the back seat.  This time, I got so much, I needed to put some in the trunk.

Anyway, I got that done and trundled down to Wallyworld.  I didn't see everyone going in or coming out with masks on their face, so I stuck mine in my purse and went for it.  I also put a cough drop in my mouth because smoker's cough right now is a bad thing.  The workers at the little tent pass-through thing were wearing masks and they informed me Walmart is mostly one-way now.  Follow the signs, etc.  Through the doors and into the store where a worked told me the carts are disinfected and that it's all one-way and to follow the signs. 

Off I went into bizarro world.  I finally found my first sign after a bit - at the first short aisle I went to.  They're on the floor.  And at the end of that first aisle, I encountered a elderly woman trying to enter the wrong way.  I said 'sorry, hon, but you can't come in this way' and pointed to the sign at her feet.  She grinned and apologized and said something like 'oh, that's where the signs are'.

I went about my shopping like usual, following the signs which isn't that hard.  Most people were obeying the rules.  Some people were being assholes, but you get that on a regular day anyway.  About 2/3rds of the shoppers were wearing masks.  Of those, about 10% were wearing them wrong.  If you're going to wear a mask, it has to cover your nose AND your mouth.  All but two of the workers were wearing masks and the two who weren't didn't seem like they had half a brain between them.

So, I go into the juice aisle and there are these two young males in blue vests and no masks, staring at the shelves like they can't find where they're supposed to stock something.  I need to get to the apple juice, which his behind the big cart of stuff they're stocking.  So I point to the juice and ask them to move their cart.  Which they do, but then they're standing right there where I have to brush past them to get the damn juice.  So I ask them to move again.  And they look at me like I'm an idiot.  Then I'm all likes 'dudes, Walmart is telling me I have to stay 6 feet away from you, so move back 6 feet already'.  Sheesh.  Not brain surgery.

About 3/4 of the way through the store, my cart is full to overflowing.  There was no way I was going to get the meat and produce and frozen stuff in there.  So, I decided to check out with that load, put it in the car, and go back again.  Checkout #1 went fine.  I stuffed the car and went for another run through the gauntlet.  Keep six feet apart, follow the signs, etc.  Got what I needed and headed for checkout again.  The shortest line happened to be one of my favorite cashiers - I'll call her K.  Yay.

The guy at the checkout checks out.  The guy right in front of me has a little dog with him and is wearing a big top hat.  Okaaay.  Then I notice he's buying copious packs of balloons.  Fun.  Except he doesn't have enough cash and he keeps digging through his pockets coming up with coins and tossing them on the conveyor in hopes he'll come up with the $24.35 or whatever he needs to make his purchase.  I spoke up and offered to meet the difference, but K shook her head.  On and on with more coins being found and him continuing to say he was sure he had a five in their somewhere.  I pulled a five out of my purse, threw it on the belt, and said 'make up the difference out of that'.  

He thanked me profusely and told the cashier that any change was mine.  Well, duh.  Then he asked me if I had any kids.  Umm, okay.  Then he informed me he makes balloon animals in the park and gives them to the kids for free.  Umm, okay.  Explains the odd clothes and the little dog, I guess.  He gathered his balloons and left.  I just wanted to get back out to the car before my ice cream melted and at the rate we were going, it wasn't going to be likely without intervention. 

Poor K.  She told me that guy does that every time he comes in there.  :shrug:  I told her it was worth $5 to me to get the show underway.  I ended up paying $1.03 for his stuff.  We won't talk about how much I paid for my stuff.  Good thing it was for a month's worth of food. 

I asked K how she was doing and she just shook her head sadly. then she whispered that she's been there every day since this whole thing started.  Bad enough for any cashier, but K is like in her seventies.  She's wiped out and I don't blame her.  But she's good at her job, she's probably taking on extra shifts because she knows they're hurting for workers right now and, unfortunately, I think she needs the money.  I wish I could do something more for her than just being a nice customer who doesn't give her shit and genuinely cares about how she's doing amidst all this chaos crap.

Other than the huge unloading of the car, the rest of the trip was uneventful.  The gal at the feed store told me that Arkansas is allowing restaurants to open starting on Monday.  Yay.  It doesn't matter to me, because we don't eat out anyway, but it'll help the local economy, which is always good.  Her?  She's a widow who eats out often, so this is even happier news for her. 

Well, I just scrolled back up and saw how long this post became.  Thanks for sticking with me all the way through.  I hope your day is awesome and that you stay safe and healthy.  :hugs:

How are things going for you?