Shopping In Times of Corona

Kerana Corona, I don’t sleep-in during weekends. I have no choice because it takes just a fraction of a minute to determine if I spend the rest of the day waiting for my turn to get into the supermarket. I drag myself out of bed to prepare myself to the battlefield of the Ketua Rumah kind before even taking breakfast. I strap that mask across my face and load up my disinfectant wipes. Trousers which will have to go straight into the washing machine after this trip, have to have pockets for me to slip in my credit cards, cash, handphone and contain my car keys. My handbag has forgotten how it is like to go out with me because I cannot risk having her touching things nearby especially if her owner can sometimes lose her grace. The hair has to be pinned up so that it doesn’t sweep on any surface. The night before, I will call for any last orders in the family because I will not be able return home till the dusk if I were to re-queue.

Despite the fuss of getting out of the house, I have to admit that ticking items off the shopping list is therapeutic. But the therapy is short-lived because checking out of the supermarket requires another heave of energy. Pushing items from the cart to the counter while making sure they don’t fall off the other end and keeping an eye of on the items scanned so that they won’t be mistakenly keyed in twice amid the heap of groceries that I created requires some effort. Then there is that moment when I have to dump everything into the trolley quickly so that I don’t keep the cashier and the next person in line waiting in frustration. After that only can I push the wobbly trolley to my car just to pass by a couple who decided to do grocery shopping in pairs.

Although grocery shopping is different now, it is nothing compared to what our frontliners are doing. I feel grateful that my basic necessities can still be met while gawking at the people who unabashedly flout the MCO rules.