Essential/Nonessential vs. Safe/Not safe

[Christine]

I understand their reasoning, but I think it's flawed. Since you can purchase the same items online, doesn't that "unfairly punish smaller stores"? Sorry, IMO, if a store is open, a store is open and you should be able to purchase anything in that store.

I agree with you. Just spouting what I'm hearing and reading (yes, I'm spending too much time on social media!!). I'm frankly thrilled I can go into Target and browse the clothing section but I was internet-shamed for that a week or so ago.

 

[sam_gordon]

On the flip side it can make anyone be in the store longer than necessary as they weave through the one-way aisles and heavens if you forget an item at the front of the aisle or middle of the aisle can't backtrack and oh crap what if you can't find the item but then realize you just missed it or you didn't remember that X item isn't near this but it actually near that.

When I brought this up earlier this week or last (possibly on this thread), I was told how I was inpatient and selfish. I was told if the person in front of you stops and what you want is at the far end of the aisle, you should wait patiently and not go around them. The one way aisles sounds good on paper, don't know how practical it is.

 

[mom2rtk]

When I brought this up earlier this week or last (possibly on this thread), I was told how I was inpatient and selfish. I was told if the person in front of you stops and what you want is at the far end of the aisle, you should wait patiently and not go around them. The one way aisles sounds good on paper, don't know how practical it is.

At the grocery store last week there was a woman stopped in the middle of the one way aisle having a phone conversation. Looking straight ahead, not shopping at all while she talked. I passed her. If that makes me a bad person, then so be it. I'm not waiting for her to finish the call. I finished my shopping and looked down the row when I was done shopping and she was STILL there having her phone conversation in the middle of that aisle.

 

[rlk]

At the grocery store last week there was a woman stopped in the middle of the one way aisle having a phone conversation. Looking straight ahead, not shopping at all while she talked. I passed her. If that makes me a bad person, then so be it. I'm not waiting for her to finish the call. I finished my shopping and looked down the row when I was done shopping and she was STILL there having her phone conversation in the middle of that aisle.

I've run into a variation of this scenario while shopping a few times. The worst case was two shoppers across the (quite) narrow aisle talking to each other. Am I supposed to wait until they move on from their conversation, do I back up, or hold my breath and squeeze through? I asked them to move along. It is so frustrating and rude.

 

[Colleen27]

I totally agree with the bolded statement you made. My routine used to be to do one big grocery trip a month with maybe a small second trip half way through the month to replenish drinks, bread, and fruit. Both trips would be somewhere between 11pm and 3 am, and I was able to get all my stuff from one store while basically no one else was in the store. It meant that I spent less time in the store, interacted with no one, and could leave the kids at home.

Now with the reduced hours, I'm stuck going during the day when the masses are there, I have to bring the kids most of the time since DH is working, and I spend significantly longer in the store due to the larger crowds. The stores are supposedly operating under reduced occupancy limits, but I seem to constantly be within arms reach of someone in any aisle. Back when I could go at night, it was rare to see 3 people in the entire store, including employees. At my local Walmart, employees are frequently stocking items on shelves during the day which causes bottle necks and leaves people having to squeeze in between employees, pallets, and other customers to grab something off of a shelf or make it through an aisle. Plus with people panic buying and stores frequently being out of things, it has meant I have to do more than 1-2x/ month shopping trips and having to go to multiple stores each time just to get what we need.

I encounter far more people now than I did before all of this started and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Yep. Our local store used to be 24/7 and I shopped either after 11pm, because I'm naturally a night owl, or during the school day (alone) because one of the best perks of not having a 9-to-5 is shopping when everyone else is at work. So I usually shopped mostly empty stores. Now they're only open 8 to 9, with the first hour seniors-only, and it seems like it is day-before-Thanksgiving packed whenever I go. They have a posted capacity now, per the governor's new order, but no one monitoring it (and with multiple entrances, I'm not sure how they would). The aisles are marked as one way in tape on the floor, but I didn't even notice until someone made a nasty comment about me going the wrong way. But from the general traffic flow, I'd say more people either don't notice or don't care than follow the directions.

Not defending Michigan's decisions but just to play devil's advocate:

You know what else our state has deemed essential, and is running commercials to remind people they can still get? Lotto tickets. I was shocked when I heard the commercial on the radio today telling people to "play responsibly". A neighbor of ours works at the local gas station and says they still have a ton of regulars coming in every day to get and redeem their scratchers. They had to block off their side counter to stop some of the older men from standing in the store to scratch them! But a nursery offering curbside plant sales is too dangerous to be allowed...

 

[mom2rtk]

The dumbest thing I've seen yet is our stores with multiple entrances closing all but one. And that one entrance is used for every single person entering and exiting. I guess it's to accommodate them counting bodies in and bodies out, but dang. Do they not see how crowded together everyone gets coming and going in the same spot? It's like that now at our Target, Wal-mart and Hy-Vee (large grocery store). It's absolutely insane.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I went to target and they had TWO long lines running directly through the main area of the store so you could check out. There had to be about 50 people in the lines that were separated by self check out and regular check out.

So when you came in you had to walk between the two lines to get in and then go between people every time you needed to go into the aisles to buy toothpaste or whatever you needed.

And to top it off they only had one cashier checking people out but lots of people organizing clothes and cleaning the one register that was open.

Then you cut the hours on all stores and it’s making them even more crowded.

 

[monkeydawn]

The dumbest thing I've seen yet is our stores with multiple entrances closing all but one. And that one entrance is used for every single person entering and exiting. I guess it's to accommodate them counting bodies in and bodies out, but dang. Do they not see how crowded together everyone gets coming and going in the same spot? It's like that now at our Target, Wal-mart and Hy-Vee (large grocery store). It's absolutely insane.

I was LIVID when our Walmart did this. They choose to block off all entries except for one with carts chained together and then had emergency exit signs on them. Um, thinking those chained carts might be a problem in an emergency. Looks like I wasnt the only one with an issue as it was just caution taped today. And it does seem insane to funnel everyone through one hole instead of three different holes. At the very least open the gardening center separately and let those people have an entrance! (Although I suspect some would complain about not being able to pay for everything at once.)

 

[mom2rtk]

I was LIVID when our Walmart did this. They choose to block off all entries except for one with carts chained together and then had emergency exit signs on them. Um, thinking those chained carts might be a problem in an emergency. Looks like I wasnt the only one with an issue as it was just caution taped today. And it does seem insane to funnel everyone through one hole instead of three different holes. At the very least open the gardening center separately and let those people have an entrance! (Although I suspect some would complain about not being able to pay for everything at once.)

My first experience with this was a couple weeks ago on a rainy Sunday afternoon. As I walked up to the lone entrance, there were FOUR buses (from retirement homes nearby) stopped in front by the doors, either about to drop off or waiting to pick up. It was an absolute zoo with one set of doors available to use. Then on the way out, it was still raining, so people were just standing there blocking the one set of doors to exit, I guess watching for their ride to pull up. It was sheer insanity. For no good reason. They had made everything much worse. I haven't been back to that store since.

 

[monkeydawn]

My first experience with this was a couple weeks ago on a rainy Sunday afternoon. As I walked up to the lone entrance, there were FOUR buses (from retirement homes nearby) stopped in front by the doors, either about to drop off or waiting to pick up. It was an absolute zoo with one set of doors available to use. Then on the way out, it was still raining, so people were just standing there blocking the one set of doors to exit, I guess watching for their ride to pull up. It was sheer insanity. For no good reason. They had made everything much worse. I haven't been back to that store since.

I would not have gone back but I desperately needed insecticide before Amazon could deliver it. I got bit three times by brown recluses last weekend and desperately needed a way to try to control them. If I didnt go to Walmart it would have meant an extra hour of driving to get it. It actually wasnt as bad today and I was able to pick up some generic advil (they were out precovid madness and its the first Ive seen it since) and some Peeps. I know, not essential but I was literally walking right past them (thanks to the gardening center door not being open) and no one else was in that aisle. I was so excited to find them, its the first time in years Ive been able to get normal Peeps after Easter.

 

[ronandannette]

When I brought this up earlier this week or last (possibly on this thread), I was told how I was inpatient and selfish. I was told if the person in front of you stops and what you want is at the far end of the aisle, you should wait patiently and not go around them. The one way aisles sounds good on paper, don't know how practical it is.

I've been limiting my shopping to one small neighborhood grocer. Practically everybody else in the place is a regular too. This is how it works since they set up the directional arrows and by now, most everybody has adapted their behavior. It sure does contribute to a longer time in the store though, and added frustration you can't just zip into the "wrong end" of an aisle when what you want is right there. I don't think anybody loves it, nor is anybody expected to. It's not impatient or selfish to feel disgruntled, as long as everybody remains civil and courteous.