News from my local Walmart

[Bob Juch]

I went to Walmart a couple of hours ago to pick up the groceries I ordered online Thursday. I had to schedule that the first thing Friday morning at 5:45 to get a slot as they allow just "today or tomorrow" as the choices. I wore my house clothes of sweat pants, golf shirt, and slippers.

The first thing I noticed was that the parking lot in front of the hospital across the highway was empty. I've never seen that before. They have a back lot that I couldn't see from the street.

This Walmart is in a large, spread-out, shopping complex. There was one car at the urgent care center, none at anything else besides Walmart. The Walmart lot looked about half full. I saw whole families walking to and from their cars, just like a typical day. The only thing unusual was that the sidewalk between the two front entrances was taped off, and there was a canopy over a table by the door staffed by an employee. That was to accommodate Walmart's limiting the number of people who can be in their store at the same time. There was no one in the line; people just walked past the table into the store.

The person who brought out my groceries did not wear any protective gear. She opened the back hatch of my Edge and put the groceries in and left.

Everything I bought was frozen except for two packages of cheese, so when I got home, I put on nitrile gloves, put away the frozen items, and washed the cheese packages before putting them in the refrigerator. I then tossed the gloves in the trash; I have a box of 60 pairs that I bought years ago.


There are only 2019 reported cases and just 52 deaths in Arizona. Most are in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. In my county, Pima, there are 237 cases and 11 deaths. It seems that a lot of people have a sense of security due to the low numbers. I hope it doesn't turn out to be false.

[silverscreenselect]

My daily walk takes me through a now-closed strip center and they have converted a restaurant there into a free food pantry, which is open about three hours a day. They have a volunteer at the door to limit the total number of people inside (one is admitted when one leaves). I crossed by on the other side of the parking lot and didn't go in, but there was a long line of people waiting to get in and only about half of them were practicing social distancing. Most got about two feet away from the person in front, which, frankly is about the distance you might get away from a stranger in normal situations.

I appreciate whoever was donating the food to the pantry, but worry about how easily things could spread. For what it's worth, there have still been a lot of people on popular hiking/biking trails in Atlata, and they are often too crowded to allow people to get six feet away at all times. I think some people have the idea that if you're outdoors, the usual rules don't apply.

[Bob Juch]

My daily walk takes me through a now-closed strip center and they have converted a restaurant there into a free food pantry, which is open about three hours a day. They have a volunteer at the door to limit the total number of people inside (one is admitted when one leaves). I crossed by on the other side of the parking lot and didn't go in, but there was a long line of people waiting to get in and only about half of them were practicing social distancing. Most got about two feet away from the person in front, which, frankly is about the distance you might get away from a stranger in normal situations.

I appreciate whoever was donating the food to the pantry but worry about how easily things could spread. For what it's worth, there have still been a lot of people on popular hiking/biking trails in Atlanta, and they are often too crowded to allow people to get six feet away at all times. I think some people have the idea that if you're outdoors, the usual rules don't apply.

Often people outdoors are exercising which makes them breathe heavier which would spread the virus further.

[Spock]

BobJ>>>"I went to Walmart a couple of hours ago to pick up the groceries I ordered online Thursday. I had to schedule that the first thing Friday morning at 5:45 to get a slot as they allow just "today or tomorrow" as the choices. I wore my house clothes of sweat pants, golf shirt, and slippers."<<<<

I thought I saw you on the "People of Walmart" website.

[Bob Juch]

BobJ>>>"I went to Walmart a couple of hours ago to pick up the groceries I ordered online Thursday. I had to schedule that the first thing Friday morning at 5:45 to get a slot as they allow just "today or tomorrow" as the choices. I wore my house clothes of sweat pants, golf shirt, and slippers."<<<<

I thought I saw you on the "People of Walmart" website.

Probably not, as I never left my vehicle.

[Spock]

BobJ>>>"I went to Walmart a couple of hours ago to pick up the groceries I ordered online Thursday. I had to schedule that the first thing Friday morning at 5:45 to get a slot as they allow just "today or tomorrow" as the choices. I wore my house clothes of sweat pants, golf shirt, and slippers."<<<<

I thought I saw you on the "People of Walmart" website.

Probably not, as I never left my vehicle.

Yes, I got that. It was a joke.