Sometimes I Just Don't Get It

This is the end of Week #5 of our self-isolation.

After a grocery shopping trip to Meijer on March 12, we have been staying at home.  But... we have gone a few places in these five weeks.

Two trips to Payless for grocery pick up.  We ordered groceries online, then drove to the store by the mall a few days later.  No contact except Gary lifting the hatch door of the Escape and the worker loading the bags.

Four trips to Delphi for groceries. Once to Wallman's, then one time to Wallman's combined with a stop at Save-A-Lot. then twice just to Save-A-Lot.  Each time we wiped the cart handles and I carried a Lysol wipe with me to cleanse my hands after each time I touched an item.  I also ran the wipe over different items as I put them in the cart or basket.

Each time we were 'out and about' we stopped for food.  Once we ordered at Cracker Barrel for curb-side delivery.  Twice we drove through Culvers for fish sandwiches and fries.  Stone House took an order for us three different times.  Our first experience was at the Sandwich Shop in Delphi.  Plus we have had delivery from Delphi Pizza King and Tippy's in Pittsburg (not PA but the little town just outside of Delphi).

Usually we combine one of these trips with the pick up of medicine from the Meijer drive-up window.  We just started using that service, along with the Express check out, and it has worked great.  Paying with a credit card online and signing for the meds has worked well for us.  Matt was able to pick up needles for Gary on one of his trips in for grocery pick-up.  We had paid and signed for them, so all he had to do was give Gary's birthdate and they handed them through the window.

We have been to the gas station twice, once for gas for the mowers and once for gas for our Escape. Gas prices are low right now and we filled up the other day, just because.

Then yesterday we drove tthe areas o Burnettsville so I could take the quilt top for Lynnlee's twin sized quilt to Betty for quilting and so I could pick up fabric for the borders for Tessa's double bed sized quilt. Now I can add those to hers and it will be ready for quilting.  I can drop it off when I pick up Lynnlee's finished quilt.  I was nervous about going to the quilt shop.  First because it was so far from us....not really, but further than we had been since we self-quarantined.  Then I wasn't sure how exposed Betty or her shop had been.  I wore my mask and sanitized my hands when I returned to the Escape.  I stood away from her while she was cutting fabric and the only contact we really had was when she took my credit card and returned it to me. I laid the bag containing the quilts on the table and picked up the fabric and returned the pieces to the bag.

So why the title of this post?

Because we are taking so many precautions, using hand sanitizer and wiping down items from the store, wiping off door handles and the doorbell, and everything in the bathroom after anyone else uses it (meaning Hilary or the kids).  I am still scared that one of us will pick up the virus somehow and I know that both of us are somewhat vulnerable.

But we are trying. The things I listed above were sometimes done in one trip, not separate trips. Like  filling the gas cans for the mowers AND picking up lunch at Stone House AND stopping at Save-A-Lot.  Going to Payless to pick up groceries, stopping at Meijer for medicine, and curbside pick up at Cracker Barrel.

Then I see (and hear about) this.  Posts on FB yesterday from various friends about the crowds they saw.  In Kokomo the Lowe's parking lot was packed.  Someone said people were crowding into Best Buy and she witnessed several televisions being loaded into cars.  The Menards parking lot was full.  One friend went to Meijer for groceries and families were out in droves.  Traffic had picked up in areas around Indianapolis.  Why?  Because people had received their stimulus checks and decided to spend them.

Now..I believe the intent of the stimulus checks were to help people through the tough times of not working because only essential jobs had remained filled.  Because so many had been laid off from their jobs, or because people worked in retail and stores had closed, or so many were employed in food service and those establishments were not serving customers now in their dining rooms so the wait staff were unemployed....the stimulus money was to help them pay their rent, buy groceries, keep their houses warm and pay the electric bills.  But no...people are spending the money on new televisions and other items---AND crowding the stores to do so?

I know...people can spend their money how they want.  But more than that....what happened to social distancing?  Staying away from crowds?  Only going out for essential reasons?  The governor extending the 'stay at home/in place' order until May 1?  Wasn't that done for a reason?  So we would all stay home and NOT spread this disease to others?

Why are so many people just ignoring this?  Why do they think the stay-at-home order doesn't apply to them?  Why do they think they know more that the experts who are advising our officials and making these decisions?

I miss Cooper and Lynnlee.  I miss Karen and Clay stopping by.  I miss going...anywhere and not having to worry about being infected.   I miss interaction with other people (and Gary is the best person to be quarantined with, don't get me wrong).  I miss going to Miracles Fitness three times a week.

And if people don't stay at home and take this seriously, then we will be staying at home much longer, more people will become ill, and the disease will continue to spread.  Why can't people just listen to those who know more than they do about this and stay home?

Sometimes I just don't get it.