A very successful shopping trip

It was kind of a date night so we decided to leave our masks at home and go stroll the aisles of a supermarket south of Hudson. I’d heard that they are not particularly strict on mask wearing, and it feels humiliating to continually comply with wearing it. We love Columbia County because there are so many friends and acquaintances around every corner. The fear of a pandemic has definitely cooled things down, but the warmth is still there, especially if you dig a little.

So off to get food. I felt a little dizzy with not even a scarf to tie around my face - “just in case”. Also shopping that night, is the one person I know who admits to having worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. There she is perky and masked, shopping with vigor while my insides went cold, but I can pretend. She passed us a few times and I started to sing Christmas carols and danced with P.D. up the aisles, masking my shivery tension. Going the wrong way no doubt. Then in the gluten-free aisle a mom from my daughter’s public school stops to chat, lamenting the loss of Shakespeare and concerts and frankly any fun at school. There’s real loss. Eventually it sinks in that we are relaxed and not wearing masks. She rips hers off , hurls it into her shopping cart and bursts into tears. Completely vulnerable now, she speaks of her fear of other’s judgement and condemnation and just plain meanness. I wanted to hug her.

Next down the aisle came a man wearing a mask below his nose. Emboldened I congratulate him on his ability to breathe. He said he has asthma and has trouble. I said “you shouldn’t wear it and I give you permission to toss it”. So suddenly we were all laughing and joking in the gluten free, mask-less section of the supermarket. Life as warm as you would want it. No fear. When we got to the checkout, the cashier commented on the tastiness of our already opened bag of veggie chips. It was difficult to understand her because of the mask, but she was friendly and I offered her some chips anyway.

It was a very successful shop.
C.D.