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‘Elder Hour’ at Grocery Store

‘Elder Hour’ at  Grocery Store

Times reporter gets unique pandemic shopping experience

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Times reporter gets unique pandemic shopping experience

By JOHN RECH

news@theeveningtimes.com

stores accommodated G rocery senior citizens with a special shopping hour before doors opened to the general public on Tuesday morning March 24, 2020. The courtesy came from thoughtful store managers during the COVID-19 threat.

I’m a little over 60-years-old and enjoy 14 grandchildren. Those were my bona-fides. So, off I drove to the Neighborhood Walmart in the dark for the daylight savings time 7 a.m. opening. I arrived at 7:15 and the lot was already full, like a typical mid-morning Saturday. I cringed.

I thought to myself as I walked across the parking lot toward the store, wow, the toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water and trash bags must be swarmed over already, like a pallet at a midnight Black Friday door buster special. I was delighted; my pessimistic gut was wrong. Instead, I was in the store surrounded by others in the Boomer and Builder generations. We still have manners in public. We’ve mellowed.

We’ve been through some stuff in our times. Though I’m only in my 60s, I’ve been alive during parts of eight different decades. The folks around me in the store have lived through ice storms, blizzards, floods and tornadoes that shut us out of necessities for a while. We experienced the Second War, the Korean Conflict or Vietnam War as part of the strife in our young lives. Some of us came up hard and gone periods of two weeks or more without being able to shop. We used to call it the end of the month. Everyone in the store remembered gas rationing and having a designated day of the week to fill ’er up. My parents, still alive, recalled rationing and coupons during the big one, World War II. The elder hour at Walmart Neighborhood Center was filled with people that had been there, endured some of that in their lives, and wore out the T-shirts. We’ve mellowed.

Our two generations enjoy some homogeneity. Everyone was dressed for the occasion. I saw no one in pajamas, nice. No one glared at me for wearing my white over

See ELDER HOUR, page A3

RECH ELDER HOUR

From page A1

the calf socks, also nice. No skinny butt kids hanging onto their saggy pants with one hand were anywhere in view, super nice. Everybody had their pants up over their hips, draped on the waist-line, as us older woman, men, and God Almighty appreciate so very much. No yoga pants, and no vulgar tattoos affronted any old sensibilities. Nothing lewd to gawk at here, because we’ve mellowed.

Old habits diehard. The six foot social distancing bubble was just too hard for many to maintain. We all knew we were bestowed the early shopping hour privilege just because we were in a Coronavirus vulnerable age bracket. We also knew the medical conditions of our friends that could aggravate sickness during the Coronachan world crisis. None the less, men greeted me with a handshake. We all talked like we were sitting around the farmers table at a diner or the lunch tables at Tacker’s Shake Shack. The conversation and back slapping reminded me of Saturday mornings at Garrett’s Hardware back in the day. I heard not one mention of COVID-19 the whole time I shopped, a nice break from reality, real nice. No one was preoccupied with Skype shopping with their signi_cant other via their pocket device. Some people paid attention to the old pencil crossing off items from handwritten shopping lists. Preachers greeted one another. I spotted one local Marion celebrity in the store, Cliff. We passed each other in an aisle and just said howdy. I missed his fantastic annual Christmas open house last year. We’ve mellowed.

As for the store, I’m certain my shopping experience in Marion repeated like an old carbon paper copy at every grocer anywhere who opened early for senior citizens tis Tuesday morning past.

I was greeted, at the door, like the good ole days. I was greeted by cashiers, cashiers, I tell you. All the self service checkout lanes were open as well as all the cashier stands from there to the door. Smiles and greetings were extended from workers to shoppers right down the line. Paper towels, toilet paper and bottled water were on pallets by the door as well as their usual spots on the shelves. The supplies, some limited to one package, were ample for the special elder hour. I picked up hamburger but there were no eggs. Managers and stockers made eye contact said good morning and asked are you _nding everything all right? I replied, I am. After all, I was out and about, not isolated, and surrounded by friends. And we’ve mellowed.

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