For many of us, the global coronavirus outbreak left us with little choice but to hole up in the safety of our homes. Following the government’s appeal to stay inside the house is the wisest decision you can make to make it out alive of this pandemic. Nowadays, every opportunity to go out gives me a sense of freedom and the thrill of an adventure. A once ordinary event in my daily life has now become an exciting moment in the time of quarantine. Similarly, the simple task of stepping outside to enjoy the outdoors comes with that feeling of anxiety due to the deadly virus scare.
I go out mainly to buy grocery items and other essentials. Although online shopping is an alternative, there is no better substitute for the joy of physical shopping. There is bliss in going through the aisles, comparing the price tags, reading the product labels, and making that final decision to buy or not to buy. Lastly, paying for your grocery with your credit card or cash is a pleasurable moment, something that gives you the power to overcome life’s miseries.
Of the six grocery stores within our subdivision, my favorite go-to place is the one farthest from my house. The long walk does not bother me at all since it gives me the chance to burn a few calories. Not only that, but I also get to enjoy the green scenery as I stroll under the cool shades of the trees along the sidewalk. The warm ray of sunshine and the earthly scent of fresh cogon grass that grows by the roadside provide extra treats to my senses. It is a walk in the park!
More than the exercise and the nature trip, what I love the most about going to this store is the shopping experience it gives me. Aside from the airy ambiance and spacious layout, the store provides convenience for shoppers who only need to buy no more than 12 grocery items. After going through the aisles and picking up the products I needed the most, I would head right away to Lane 19 – the express lane for shoppers in a hurry. To ensure that I comply with the store policy, I usually count the items in my cart many times while waiting in line.
During the early months of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), I encountered puzzling incidents with some fellow shoppers in Lane 19. Last July, for example, a man in front of me queued up with no cart or any item from the shelf. He was standing in line, busy with his cellphone, and oblivious to his surroundings. The mystery soon unraveled to me when a woman and a teenage girl with two big carts full of groceries came rushing towards him. I immediately had the impression of panic buying. The man’s wife and daughter, as it turned out, quickly protested that they had gone to the wrong lane since the number of grocery items in their carts were way beyond the limit. Instead of transferring to the next alley for the big pushcarts, the man dismissed his wife and daughter’s suggestion. He said they will divide the number of items into three smaller baskets when they reach the counter. By the looks of it, each cart contained half of the entire grocery store, and dividing all the goods into three smaller baskets would not solve the issue. There is no way that each family member would have one basket with only 12 items in it.
When the family reached the counter, the cashier announced politely that Lane 19 was only for shoppers with 12 items or less. Pretending not to hear anything, the man emptied the carts onto the conveyor belt. Soon, he was reasoning out that the grocery items can be divided among the three of them anyway. Thinking that the cashier would simply cower and give in to his argument, the man met his match. The diminutive lady behind the cashier stand was unrelenting. She calmly explained that Lane 19 was an express lane because the cash register devoted to that lane is programmed to transact up to 12 items only per shopper. After a short debate and loud groans from other shoppers, the family complied with the store policy. With each family member choosing only 12 items to buy, they went home visibly unhappy. Behind them were many of the grocery items the wife and daughter painstakingly picked from the shelves: goods that they failed to bring home. I wondered why the family had never moved to the other lane instead. The petite cashier who stood her ground in implementing the store regulation won the first round.
The second amusing incident happened in August in my favorite lane. Three youngsters cut me in line and declared that the empty basket lying before me was proof that they came in first. The basket did the falling in line for them, how clever! The triumvirate triumphantly claimed the spot in front of me as if it were a cherished territory. All I could do was to step back and surrender the floor tile I was standing on. An instant photoshoot ensued to mark their victory. They started taking each other’s pictures with utter disregard for the other shoppers. They struck various poses in front of the grocery cart, behind it, beside it, under it, making use of every nook and cranny of that fabled grocery cart. When I glanced at their groceries, I saw broccoli and 24 bottles of cold beer. With the screaming signs that said, “Lane for 12 items or less,” the gay guy in the group defensively invoked the famous division principle. As I inched towards the payment area, I smiled beneath my face mask when I saw my favorite cashier on duty.
And so it was the group’s turn to pay. Their excitement was immediately doused when the cashier told them about the store policy of limiting a shopper to buy up to six bottles of beer only. It was part of the city ordinance on the sale of alcoholic drink, she said. With six bottles each, they could only buy a maximum of 18 bottles of beer. Not willing to be defeated, the three conquistadores fought for the remaining 6 beer bottles. The gay young man had an ace up his sleeve as he called on a fourth shopper in the group. With six bottles per shopper, the four could now romp away with all the 24 bottles of beer in their cart. A burly guy soon joined them like a hero ready to save the day. But their pyrrhic victory was cut short like the way they cut me in line. The undaunted cashier gently requested them to show their home quarantine passes as a requirement for buying alcoholic beverages within the locality. They never saw their crushing defeat coming. Only one of them had brought her home quarantine card. With his ego badly bruised, the gay guy announced that they could buy more beer from the 7-11 store anyway. With only six bottles of beer, the group left the grocery in a huff leaving the rest of the icy beer bottles and the solitary broccoli out in the cold.
Just a month ago, I lined up again to pay for my grocery items in Lane 19. Everything was going on smoothly until I reached the counter. While preparing my receipt, the cashier reminded the woman next to me that she could only transact a maximum of 12 items in that lane. Trying to ignore the cashier, the woman casually replied that she was not aware of the policy. She then continued to pour her grocery on the conveyor belt. The cashier said that signs are on display from the start of the lane down to the cashier’s area. In a pleasant voice, she said to the woman, “You may select the 12 items you needed the most, Madam.” Barely containing myself, I commended the cashier for doing her job well. Then I added, “Maybe the store management should make the signs bigger for every shopper to see them well.” Dagger looks from the woman darted to my direction as I fled to the exit door.
Sometimes life is a fast lane. We want everything to happen in a flash. There are times, however, when life requires us to patiently wait for our turn and be still, a situation which many of us do not want to endure. Whether we have a cartful of groceries or we only have twelve items in our basket, we have to observe the rules. Going and finding the correct lane is a simple task. The problem arises because we want to get ahead of others all the time. If you happen to go shopping in my favorite store and prefer to line up in Lane 19, you have been warned. There is a no-nonsense cashier at the counter waiting for you at the end. She will definitely check on your grocery items to see if you follow the 12-item rule. You do not want to find yourself leaving the store with some of your grocery items missing.
Life is like that. We cannot have it all. Sometimes the Universe has a way of taking some of the most valuable things away from us because we do not follow the rules. Remember, when the time comes for that final check out at the end of the lane, we cannot take anything from this earthly store.