a) stocking up for 2-3 weeks in case one caught COVID-19, something that has slipped down one's priorities for some reason (though if one's household got it some of us would need to have stocked up)
b) predicting the level of other people's COVID-compliant behaviours i.e.seeing whether they are observing the rules and staying well away or veering towards you, leaving you no space in the supermarket aisles to move around
c) worry about supermarket workers' health and their own protection
d) trying to find emptier shops than popular supermarkets, such as farm shops and even petrol stations
e) finally being driven back to supermarkets, by the need for a wide range of products because one has to shop only once a week.
Added to this has been the issue of 'masks, gloves and hygiene', how to procure them and what kind to wear (or not). It has indeed taken weeks to master one's suitably tailored approach. To make light of such an added complex new chore in life (though shopping once a week is a good discipline), I've penned this little ditty below on the basis that it is better to laugh about it than to cry or panic. My main finding is that local shopping in farm shops is excellent (but their portions are a bit too large).
Supermarket Lockdown Blues
I started out with a view to stock,
For three weeks' COVID in a single shop.
But seeing an endless, weaving queue
I fled the many - for the few.
From Asda, masked, I gladly fled
To Marks (my balance in the red).
With people everywhere, I tried farm shops
But they served supersized lamb chops.
I soon tried empty petrol stations
But there a week's shop, with best intentions
Was too much: my mind just froze
So I returned to familiar Waitrose.
Now at eight, on Monday, on disinfected tiles
I patrol, alone, its wide and airy aisles.
I pack my trolley with Duchy best
Home by nine, for a cuppa and a rest.
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