My FFS Wear A Mask Pandemic Journal

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Welcome to my Pandemic Journal. We’ve had some good experiences and some not-so-good experiences when we’re out and about and I should have done this sooner, but here it is: my official Pandemic Journal. I’ll sticky it toward the top of the blog so check back for the newest entries.

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22 September 2020

I have to say that sometimes I need the two week downtime between store visits just to recoup from the stress of the experience. Between dodging the mom in a face shield only (one even had one of her kids wearing one, the other two smaller kids with no protection at all), the idiot guy who had a bandanna around his neck but not on his face, the myriad of people wearing their masks with their noses exposed, to the checkout clerk who couldn’t seem to wear her mask properly (nose exposed), I can’t handle anymore. It’s just too much.

I emailed the customer service people, likely at the corporate office, of a feed store I frequent to buy my chicken food to ask if they would reconsider allowing their check out people and other staff to wear face shields only without a mask underneath. I explained why I thought that was not enough to keep customers safe, especially during the vulnerable person’s hour they designate at the beginning of each day for people such as myself.

I received a response immediately and I was told that they would address it because anyone in a face shield only (due to a doctor’s note) had to work in areas where there were no customers. I guess they don’t care about how it impacts staff, but at least I received a response. Now, in another month or so, when we go back in there to buy feed, we’ll see if they did anything about it. But it’s ridiculous. And dangerous.

But I have to wonder…as we get closer to the election, which we really need for Biden to win, will this crap get worse?

3 September 2020

The other day, my husband wanted to make a fruit salad (well, he wanted me to make one) so that the grapes he picked could be included. So, we went to a local grocery store, Logans, where I’ve felt fairly safe in up to that point. They have masks for sale at the check stands and they even have a No Shirt No Shoes No Mast No Service sign at the front door.

But that day, two staff members were in the produce department looking over the vegetables and fruit, walking throughout the area and having a discussion. One employee was wearing a mask, the other one had a neck gaiter around his mouth only, leaving his nose exposed to shed virus all over the produce.

I quickly selected ONLY what I needed for the fruit salad, and then we headed over to the whipped cream, because you can’t really have fruit salad without it, and while we were doing so, I said to my husband, so, do you think the produce is safe? He looked at me and said, well, I suppose we can wash it really well…

So, against my better judgment, we purchased the fruit and the whipped cream and then went home where I made a delicious fruit salad, complete with the grapes and blackberries we grow.

However. Although I may continue to shop there, I won’t ever buy produce from them again. And I didn’t appreciate the checker wearing only a face shield who checked us out. She was as hyper as she could be and talked incessantly with no mask to shield her breath from anyone…just a face shield protects no one.

I’m getting tired of this, you know? Just cover your mouth and nose and be done with it.

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20 August 2020

I finally decided to get a different desktop computer and give my current one to my husband. So, after consulting with our younger son, we decided on a Mac desktop. But as always, whenever I order something from Apple, I have to sign for the package when it arrives. I found out later when I contacted UPS that they have a different process right now during the pandemic, but they are requiring their drivers to wear masks.

I waited outside in 96° temps for around 5 hours because of the fact that freight trucks can no longer drive down my driveway to the house. I have to meet them up at the gate and I couldn’t risk missing the guy so I found things to do outside (not difficult) and waited and when we saw the truck coming, we put on our masks and gloves and waited for him to arrive. He was new to us and was very friendly and nice, but he wasn’t wearing a mask when he approached us.

We stood back away from him and I said, oh, honey, you’re not wearing a mask. He acknowledged that but didn’t put one on. He set the package down and I said, but don’t I have to sign something? He said, no, that he just needed me to verify my last name. So I did and we took the package down our 800 foot driveway to the house. I thought about it and tweeted my experience and UPS responded asking me to DM them for more details which I provided. I guess they’re going to address the mask-averse problem in our area, but this is really perplexing. But then I’ve never seen a UPS driver wearing a mask since all of this began. I guess I should have expected it.

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9 August 2020

So, to recap the last few days: Our washing machine decided it had enough and made a horrible sound, likely gear-related, last night, so I went online to Lowes and ordered a new washer and dryer. The dryer was purchased as a set in 1979, a couple of months after we were married and the washer replaced the original washer in 1999.

We received the notice this morning that both were ready for pick-up, so we drove to Lowes, parked, and went into the store. Immediately, my husband noticed that the guy at the Customer Service desk (a customer) did NOT have a mask on although the woman accompanying him did. When it was our turn, I politely asked the clerk to move to another register so that we didn’t have to stand in the guy’s airspace. She was happy to comply and we waited for our appliances to arrive.

As we waited, the only person not in a mask was an employee who walked in, I’m assuming, to go to work. He finally pulled his gaiter up around his face after he walked further into the store. I made a remark that he completely ignored, but he walked right next to me and I wasn’t happy.

Yesterday, we went to the feed store to pick up more layer pellets for the chickens and the guy who finally showed up to load them in our truck arrived, sans mask, but my husband was already done loading the eight 40 pound bags into the back of the truck. He moved past him quickly and got back into the truck and we drove off.

Prior to that, however, we were checked out by a clerk who did not have a mask, but was wearing a face shield tipped outward so that she could share her breath with everyone because she, of course, didn’t have a mask on underneath the useless shield.

A few days earlier, we went to another farm store to buy some broccoli starts for the Fall garden and a staff member plowed through the customer waiting line, touching me in the process. I made another remark that flew right over her head and then went home and called the manager to let him know what we all experienced. He was very nice and he said he’d talk to the staff and remind them about their stringent (and yes, they are stringent) safety protocols. But she had the ability to go around and not come near any of us, yet chose this route instead, her mask hanging off of her glasses and unsecured around her face.

I don’t get it…I really don’t. I’ll be adding more as I go out and about, which isn’t very much, including the places we go where everyone is doing what they’re supposed to do. But mercy sakes, people…where do you all think your breath goes? INTO THE AIR, FFS.