Most Americans weren’t familiar with the concept of “social distancing” when this year began, but it has rapidly become a critical component of our day to day lives. We are being urged to stay in our homes as much as possible. Many businesses have been closed in order to prevent people from spending time in close proximity. When we enter an essential business such as a grocery store, we are urged to wear face masks and maintain a distance of a least six feet between ourselves and others.
New York is a densely populated city, but for the most part, social distancing has been manageable over the past two months. New Yorkers take the guidelines seriously. The vast majority are staying indoors and avoiding crowds when they do go outside.
I do most of my shopping late in the evening when the stores are even less crowded. When I’m in the grocery story, I can usually count the number of customers on one hand. Unfortunately, I encountered a dangerous exception a few days ago when I needed to run out to the post office.
The post office was fine. There were people in the lobby, but it wasn’t congested. There was plenty of space of social distancing.
On the way home, I decided to stop by the local Target store to look for paper towels. I opted to avoid Target, because they had a line of people queued up on the sidewalk waiting to get in. I thought that the queue was an indication of crowding inside, but as I think back on it, it actually meant that the store management was controlling the density of customers inside.
I decided to stop by a grocery store a couple of blocks away. There was no line outside, but the store itself was packed. Customers and workers were wearing masks, but social distancing was all but impossible.
I picked up a few items and dashed to the nearest cash register. While I was waiting in the well-spaced line, a customer stood right beside me (literally inches away), held up an item, and started yelling at one of the store’s workers. Apparently, the angry customer has asked for help in locating an item, and the worker said that they were out of it. The customer then found the item on his own felt the need to criticize the employee for the level of service that he offered.
“Hey, genius! Hey, genius!” the angry man yelled as he held up the item while standing just next to my right shoulder. “You’ve got eight of them back there!”
“My job isn’t to shop for you,” the employee responded as the angry man stormed away.
I’ll note that this store did not have the plexiglass dividers that other stores have added to separate cashiers and customers. It was a disquieting experience, and I won’t make the mistake of shopping there again, even at night.
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