Surgical Strike at the Grocery Store

Yesterday I made pasta sauce before I realized that I had no pasta. The pasta section had been completely cleaned out the night before our lock down came into effect. I had gotten that American hamburger meat and veggies but no pasta. and I forgot to get it when I went to the Mercadona.

There is a store very near our house. SuperCor is a smaller version of the SuperMercados in all the El Corte Ingles’s around the country. It’s like if Nordstrom or Macy’s in the US had a huge grocery store in their basement. They carry a ton of stuff you can’t get nearly anywhere else. Gormet items too. Sure, the old standbys of Spain. But also stuff from the US – brands I know. And they have a HUGE gluten free section. So no hunting and pecking through the store to find what I need. At SuperCor it’s all right there by the door.

So I walked the two blocks there yesterday. Masked up – list from Jeff in hand – I stood in the queue 6 ft from anyone else, who were also 6 ft. from anyone else. I noticed right away I was the only person in line without surgical gloves on.

I waited maybe 10 minutes for my turn to go into the store. They were letting about 10 shoppers in at a time total, who would maintain social distance inside. They waved me to come forward and I was met at the door by a woman who stopped me. She was masked, in a hazmat suit and surgical gloves. She asked me to hold up my unprotected hands and I did. She swabbed her gloved hands in hand-sanitizer and then took out fresh gloves and one by one gloved up my hands. Then she took alcohol wipes and wiped down the basket handle and handed it to me and waved me through. At that point I think I could have performed heart surgery and not infected the patient.

People in the store stayed well away from each other. They had removed displays so that we could wait in line at a good safe social distance. The cashiers were gloved and masked too. They only assisted one person at a time. Not the usual packing as many people through the line as possible so our groceries get mixed up at the end of the shute.

In Spain, they are taking this all very, very seriously. I hear from people in the US who think they can still go to parties or stay inside each other’s homes because they’re friends and friends won’t have it. How could they? They’re your friends. But social distancing means you stay away from everyone who is not in your immediate family who lives with you. You don’t allow others over and you don’t go over there. No playdates for your bored kids. Isolation is the key.

US/UK friends and family – when you think of breaking the rules and recommendations – think about what I went through in the grocery store. Our present in Spain is your future by just a week. You can see it plain as day – just like we watched Italy and we locked down later than we should have. Heed our warnings to you – before it’s too late.

Peace, love and light to you all. Use your masks and glove up – but more importantly – Stay safe, Stay sane and Stay inside.