Day Two Hundred Twenty
... Did we just ... give up? Is that a thing? And I didn't get the memo?
Admittedly, I very rarely go anywhere. I mean, I leave my house, but I tend to wind up in a park somewhere because I really don't need to be around people. That's an evergreen statement, by the way. I never really need to be around people. But now? HOOOBOY. I am so darn good at social distancing.
When I do go somewhere, it's probably Target because my most convenient Target is handling the dumpster fire that is 2020 fairly well. I have witnessed them kicking people out for not wearing masks, which is pretty much where my line exists. Wear a damn mask, people. It's a very small inconvenience for the sake of saving literal lives.
ANYWAY.
I had to stray beyond Target. There's a faucet in our house that is leaking, and I do mean LEAKING. The cabinet is nearly destroyed, so I can't pretend to not care. The faucet happens to be part of a matching set and the other sink is right next to it, so one faucet leaking very quickly turned into a group project. Except, I figured out that I should replace the most-seen faucet in our house and play a little Ring-Around-the-Rosie with faucets.
Look, I can never deal with things the easy way. It's what I do.
SO. One faucet. I needed one faucet, but it's a faucet that I care about. I take acquisitions like that a bit more seriously than is probably necessary. It's like a marriage, you know. I am going to be stuck with that faucet for years. YEARS. I can't just order one online. I need to stare at it in person, in full 3D beauty, so that I can make a solid commitment.
Brick and mortar. I needed brick and mortar.
I planned for the outing. It had to happen during "off-hours" because people. I still don't want to be around people. A Monday night happens to be exactly the right time to avoid all of humanity, by the way. I have confirmed this because I went to 3 Lowes and 1 Home Depot before I found one I was willing to stay in for more than a few minutes.
Why is that, you ask? BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE STOPPED WEARING FREAKIN MASKS WTH. The first Lowe's had a gaggle of employees near the entrance, all leaning on some Halloween decorations and yammering with their masks below their chins. I legit walked in, saw that, and turned right back around. There were maybe 15 cars in the parking lot, so that's probably the only concentration of humanity I would have found, but nope. If a small gaggle of employees display signs of stupid, I have to assume all of the employees have signs of stupid.
The next 2 Lowe's weren't much better. So many employees not caring. SO MANY. So I tried Home Depot. Admittedly, I broke up with Home Depot months and months ago because I walked into one, found myself surrounded by COVID soup, and walked back out. But maybe things had gotten better with time?
NOPE.
I made it as far as the light bulbs before I noped right on out, but not before passing by two cashiers leaning on a partition at the front of the store. They were standing two feet apart as I walked by (about 20 feet away because HI, I ALWAYS AWKWARDLY SOCIAL DISTANCE). Then, suddenly, one reached up to grab her mask, put it under her chin, and then coughed INTO HER FREAKIN HAND NOT ELBOW HAND. HER LITERAL HAND. THE HAND THAT SHE AS A CASHIER WOULD USE TO TAKE AND GIVE MONEY AND EWWWWWW.
So ... we've given up? We've stopped trying to slow/stop the spread of COVID-19? That's the impression I'm getting.
(I drove 10 miles to another Lowe's in another part of town and found perfect mask compliance, fantastic employees who understood the concept of "stay 6 feet away" and all of that. I thus bought my faucet, as well as a bonus because sometimes the universe rewards me with things I want being unexpectedly 50% off.)
(I'm not going back inside a store for a looooooooong time.)
Monday, October 26, 2020
Reader Comments (3)
Can you share the location of this magical mask wearing Lowe's? Because I need also need a brick and mortar one and the 2 I have tried were both BIG nope's.
FWIW, I was in the McCandless Lowes today for a pickup; I can't speak to the store proper, but the pickup area was 100% masking. So I stayed for my pickup.
Robinson stores are a big NOPE besides Target and surprisingly Costco (sometimes).