It’s Friday, plus people get their paychecks, first of the month SSA checks, etc. Makes for a shopping frenzy and bad attitudes, imo. We stay away usually, even in normal times. The few times we happened to drive by the Wal-Mart, which is on our main route into town, the parking lot is always slammed on Friday’s.

Had to wait in line forever at the bank drive through!

Our local garden center is open but annuals are not yet in stock. When I do go around May 15 or so, a mask will be required by all shoppers and attendants.

I need a few Purple Fountain grass plants and a dozen pots of Snowdrift Super Petunias.

Quarantine fatigue - the desire to get out and live life after weeks of hearing "doom & gloom forecasts" that haven't played out. Seeing more people suffering from loss of jobs, lack of access to medical care, unable to spend time with family during major events and so on is wearing.

Social isolation is known to lead to aggression and anger; https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-pandemic-takes-toll-on-mental-health-11586433603

I know that I'm a lot more short tempered than I usually am! People that have been getting on my nerves for years, have gotten under my skin a lot worse lately! I'm finding myself not putting up with any bull from people!

Had to make a quick stop at the store today and noticed the same. Short tempers and general rudeness. I don't know about other states, but here in TX many people are nervous and feeling uneasy because of all the uncertainties, which may result in bad dispositions. TX had the highest numbers of deaths since the virus outbreak in a 24 hour period yesterday and even though the governor of our state is determined to reopen everything, most people I've talked to have no intention to go back to normal any time soon. On the bright side, most everyone was wearing masks and observing distance.

Wish my governor would see the light and start opening things up but so far no luck on that front. :(

Florida starts first stage on Mon the fourth. Most of the central FL beach counties have eased WAY up on restrictions. I expect it will be a repeat of spring break. I haven't been out to any commercial establishment since early March. My DIL keeps me supplied with groceries so I don't have to. Son and DIL closed escrow on their house yesterday and had a champagne toast with good neighbors. It's the first time I've been in their house in at least six weeks, although I've visited a couple time outside. Everyone seemed a little stiff, it didn't last long, it surely wasn't the celebration it should have been. I had been planning on helping son with landscaping and construction projects but that's in the s**t can now.

Like the OP, I've been uneasy the last few days, maybe because of the demonstrations and the "opening of the country", IDK. I've got a friend who has a stand at an very large enclosed flea market. It's been closed since early March and will be opening on the eight, with all precautions taken according to the owners of the market, WHAT A CROCK. Once she goes back to her stand, I will no longer see her in person, my decision. Not sure how she'll feel, but I won't be happy.

I guess there are those that feel that since the death toll hasn't reached (yet) the 100-200K that was predicted as possible feel that the 'doom and gloom' forecasts are overblown. I knew from the start, listening to THE SCIENTISTS that if something drastic wasn't done this would be catastrophic as far as death goes, but I also felt that the collateral damage would be enormous and long lasting. But death is forever. And premature death...

I am absolutely disgusted with my government. I haven't watched the president's 'updates' in many weeks, I want to vomit when I hear his voice. I no longer listen to the governor's propaganda either. I've even thought of moving back to the country of my ancestors where I would be welcomed as a dual citizen, even though it's not 'first world'. Finances preclude that.

No real attitude change at the stores that I noticed. I did find myself slightly amused at the people walking around the store yesterday,face mask and gloves on, hand sanitizer handy, disinfecting wipes ready to go, but completely ignoring the one way aisles. You couldn't miss them, they were bright neon green arrows on the floor that say "SHOP THIS WAY" and bright red Xs saying "DO NOT ENTER." They were either COMPLETELY oblivious to it or they think their homemade tshirt mask made them invincible.

I have to be "mentally" prepared when I decide to make a trip to the store. I was really annoyed the other day when there was a family of 4 going in to Costco. The lady at the door stopped them...still let them in, but she should have said only 2 could go in. There weren't small kids that couldn't be let in the car or at home. And yes, the people not following the flow is annoying!!

Even though here in WA state we have managed to flatten the curve better than most places, thankfully our governor is being properly cautious and is extending our "shelter in place" instructions beyond the 5/4 deadline.......with reservations. Waiting to hear the details at an afternoon press conference but so far, construction can go forward, some businesses can reopen and some outdoor recreational opportunities can be resumed. Still no mass gatherings of any type, no restaurants open, masks required anywhere in public and social distancing must be maintained.

I think there is a HUGE risk of allowing things to go back to anywhere close to normal day to day operations and I feel sorry for those living in those states that are loosening things up to the degree that will allow the virus to flare up into serious proportions. As it will. This is NOT going to go away any time soon!!

When I took son and friend shopping yesterday, son did main store for my needs. I visited another store later - no 2% milk, should have taken 1%, and a few other things.

I found courtesy generally, some coversation while waiting in line at designated spots before entry, also some humour seemed appreciated.

Some grocers carts block at end of parking lot, I lifted one's blocked wheel, towed to exit door, the staff has the electronic gizmo to unblock the wheel. The guard asked where I going, I told of blocked wheel, he rather abruptly said it couldn't go in: he was right.

Checkout lady asked me graciously to move behind the shield when I put product on apron and began to move toward making payment from there ... appreciated my thanking her for being on duty, and responded to some humour.

ole joyful

Even before the quarantine, I found that I tried to stay out of the stores on Fridays. Fridays are always the worst. I've only ben to Trader Joe's since all this started. Twice on Mondays (during early seniors hours) and once on Friday. That was a mistake, not doing' it again!

I needed construction materials. Lowes, noon on a Friday, the parking lot was packed! All the employees are new. 100% wore masks. I found myself helping people and walking them to where things were. :0) I've actually done that before tho.

Wearing masks and ALL the employees being new....that's always weird.....

I think Raye hit it right with the words "quarantine fatigue". I also think Friday is a bad day to get out, I actually forgot about that. Every time I've gotten frustrated or teed-off today I've kept telling myself that in the scheme of things I should be grateful about the fact that there are stores open and there is food still available. I mean, at least I'm not watching my loved ones starve to death, for heaven's sake. And yes I too have to really psyche myself into getting out and masking up to go to the store, I feel like I'm smothering both literally and figuratively.

I do think this quarantine is making a lot of people aggravated. Our Governor extended the stay-at-home order and she had earlier indicated that she would leave it up to each County Health Official to determine for each county.

Everyone in my county is recovered except for 5 and they are quarantined in the nursing home...all cases we have had were related to that facility. There are no cases in any nearby counties. However, it is still quite rampant in the meat packing plant in a couple of the counties within our state.

I went to the grocery store Tuesday (had been doing curbside pickup) , but I was the only one in there wearing a mask...while I was waiting for a man to get his items, a fortyish gal actually rubbed my arm to open the cabinet to get what she wanted first . Very few were following the arrows that were marked for the shopping paths.

People who are out of work are getting desperate to get back...it is hard to see their business or homes being lost, while crowds in Walmart and Target look like tomorrow is Christmas! . I have not seen any of my family for 7 weeks but tonight, my son and wife are coming over for a cookout in my garage...too windy to eat outside but I am so anxious to SEE someone in person...gets lonely here by myself all the time. But I have some health issues so will just isolate as much as possible and keep praying this will soon pass.

I drove by one of the schools handing out food today. That was hard to see and harder to be in I'm sure. The line wasn't quite out of the parking lot, but it was circled around. There were probably at least ten law enforcement vehicles there. I'm sure the line was probably worse earlier in the morning.

I live in an area of several 55+ communities (I qualified many years ago) and I go to the store, about 3/4 mile from my house once a week. I have discovered that by going about 7:00 p.m., there are no lines and it is quick in and out. Yeah, some of the produce bins are lacking, but I have managed to work around that situation by being creative. I am still doing all the food prep after the missus had a knee replacement. I imagine that will change again in two weeks.

Living in west central Florida as I do, the garden centers have been busy for weeks and weeks. I went to one of the big box stores on Wednesday afternoon for a few more plants. It was due to rain Wednesday night and I wanted to get stuff in the ground. New employees in the garden center, polite and they seemed to know what was happening. Lots of good inventory. I found what I wanted and left.

This morning, I went to the Walgreen's, arriving about 10 minutes after opening. Several folks in the store, but all were aware of their surroundings. Two check-outs were active and folks maintained their distance. Easy. I got what I was after and came home.

Maybe it is due to the 55+ folks who live near me, but I did not observe any 'issues' with either workers or shoppers.

I went to our local Kroger early yesterday morning. This is the first trip where I noticed all the employees wearing masks. They still have no one-way aisle markers, but I try to enter only empty aisles, or enter only if another shopper is already heading the same direction as I.

I did get a little perturbed at a lady who stopped half-way down an aisle to go through a pouch of coupons. I was 'trapped' between her and someone else a ways behind me. I'm not using paper coupons or paper money for the duration, mainly for the check-out employees protection, but I realize not everyone feels that way. There was a couple with no masks, also taking their time by stopping and comparing items and prices. They seemed oblivious to those of us in the aisle behind them, waiting for them to move on--or maybe they are in the group who think this is all an overblown hoax.

The good news is that Kroger had every kind of paper product--TP, facial tissues, paper towels. But no tortillas, so tonight we area having taco salad with chips, instead of burritos.

"doom & gloom forecasts" that haven't played out."

Really? Tell that to the 64,977 in the U.S who've died. And the 3,303,296 globally who have died.

"Everyone in my county is recovered except for 5 and they are quarantined in the nursing home...all cases we have had were related to that facility. There are no cases in any nearby counties." Phoggie, be careful with that thinking. Part of the problem with COVID-19 is someone can carry the virus and be asymptomatic. Meaning you can have it but not have symptoms. Those are the people who can infect others. There may be others in your community carrying it. It's also hard to know where cases originate from.

gardengal, I agree with your assessment about our governor. I'm not normally a fan of him, but I think he's done a fantastic job managing this in our state.

I grocery shopped recently and am hoping to never have to repeat that depressing experience. There were few customers, all masked. Everyone stayed a great distance from each other and had impatient looking eyes. There was no background chatter of friendly conversation or the occasional laugh. Just masked zombies rolling about silently. There seemed to be an aura of gloom. I left as quickly as possible.

Strictly pick-up for me from now on no matter how many substitutions I have to make in my items.

( There are two confirmed cases in my county, both dating back to early April. No fatalities. )

I got out yesterday. Yep, I went camping. met a couple of facebook friends at the lake. Had a fantastic time. Tammy had a folding fire ring thing... she had bought at the walmart nearby.

Sooo today, when I was on my way home I stopped there, and bought one too.

In the checkout line... while I was holding the 6 foot distance the woman behind me, had to squeeze by me to talk to the people in front of me... then squeeze by again. Next, she went in front of her shopping cart to put her stuff on the belt... and was right smack next to me.

I turned, and asked her, if she knew how wide a 6 foot distance was...

She had the nerve to tell me, she was just putting her stuff up there and then she would back up.

Again, I asked her, do you know, how wide a 6 foot distance is?

She had NO CLUE, what I wanted from her. I had to tell her, BACK OFF.

CLUELESS in Duncan Oklahoma

"after weeks of hearing "doom & gloom forecasts" that haven't played out. "

No need for me to address the lack of understanding in that statement. It's been done already.

Yep, entire counties without a single case of the virus & yet >20% of the workforce has lost their jobs with no hope of getting another. Still zero deaths in mine and the four surrounding counties and only a handful of cases.

I wonder next time there's a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico if people in say South Dakota should be required to buy hurricane supplies? In other words, the response to the pandemic should be tailored to what is going locally, one size fits all doesn't work in this situation.

Wait three weeks after your stay at home's are lifted before patting yourself on your back. It would be very nice if no one became ill but not likely to happen.

Tell that to the 64,977 in the U.S who've died. And the 3,303,296 globally who have died.

Perfect example of how things get overblown. That is 3,303,296 infected. Death toll worldwide is 235,000.

NYC constitutes about 20% of the US dead yet the population of NYC is only about 2.5% of the total US population.

I didn't go anywhere today but was out yesterday. Everyone was friendly & cheerful at the vets even though they are operating under difficult circumstances. Popped into SavALot to pick up some pork. Less than a dozen other customers going about their business. The two employees I interacted with were smiling & up beat.

I was out yesterday and everyone seemed relatively normal, but I wasn't paying much attention. I wanted to get in and get out as quickly as possible. One thing I don't understand is why Costco still has the toilet paper in the corner of the store furthest from the front door. People who are going in just to pick up paper goods have to walk through the whole store which makes sense under normal circumstances to increase sales, but makes little sense right now when you are trying to maintain social distancing and minimize time spent in a potentially infectious environment.

I thought it was just me that thought the stores looked like Black Friday! I had to hit Stop and Shop today and had a panic attack. I haven’t had one in years but I just got completely overwhelmed. Empty shelves, nothing I needed in stock, people not following arrows and the things I did get ended up costing me so much more. I had to get out of there quick and literally had a meltdown in my car. By 1:20 I had killed a huge glass of wine and I don’t even drink anymore! On top of this I work 40+ hours a week in an ER and this was my one day off to pick up what I need for lunches at work. I’m just so frustrated it’s not even funny anymore.

I've noticed people are frustrated and tired of the restrictions. People around here are kind of following the rules. Wearing masks, yes. Following those stupid arrows , sometimes. We don't wait for the person ahead to move we just pass them up. We treat each other as a person not a disease. I notice more people are out and about. Traffic is getting heavier. In my township they opened all the playgrounds, put the basket ball hoops back up, the sport complex is open except for the skate park and dog park and said gatherings of 24 or less is ok.

"Perfect example of how things get overblown. That is 3,303,296 infected. Death toll worldwide is 235,000."

Yes, you are correct, my error. I read the WHO chart too quickly. Thank you for the correction.

Today I spent $137 on a Walmart grocery pick up order. It was my first time trying it and it was in my trunk in 2 minutes! Very impressed. Most wear masks here and if there are lines they maintain a distance. But neighborhood kids play with others all over the neighborhood. Stores and restaurants are opening at 25% capacity on Monday. I wear a cloth mask when shopping. I doubt most masks work well, but I do it .it can’t hurt and it’s expected but not required. Oddly enough IMO -supermarket workers here don’t seem to be getting sick in spite of record buying. Publix has made $1 billion over last years first quarter! A friend told me she heard on the news that a study said most transmissions are now within the home?

Jakeseacrest, I'm so sorry about your panic attack. I get rather excited about a trip out to the store these days, but when I get there I'm chagrined to see what I think are too many people, some without masks. Can you try shopping later at night? You might have better luck. Thank you for all your hard work and tlc in the ER!! You and your coworkers are much appreciated.

Yep, entire counties without a single case of the virus

There are a whole group of fools who are 'back out' recently. Because those of us who are considerate stayed home and observed proper distancing, there are far fewer deaths than there could have been (and still, can be). The fools see the fewer deaths not as proof that staying home works, but as proof that the virus is weaker than we were told.

Yea, the stay at home really works. Lol. 67% of our state's deaths were from nursing or personal care homes. Nobody in and nobody out except employees. Total lockdown. Talk about the ultimate stay at home failure.

Another fool, unable to comprehend and appreciate the deaths that didn't happen.

OTOH, if everyone stays bubble wrapped, then everyone stays vulnerable. Immunity has no way to develop across the general population.

During the Revolutionary War, one of the greatest threats to the Army came not from enemy bullets, but from disease. Perhaps the most dreaded disease was smallpox, caused by a virus that kills one out of every three infected people. Because smallpox was common in England, most British soldiers had already been exposed and were immune, but the disease was less common in America and the average Continental Soldier was not.

A Deadly Scourge: Smallpox....

Another fool that does not realize that immunity can come by vaccine without requiring huge swathes of deaths or unnecessary exposures of the vulnerable.

It's like the fools have a list and they just post from it without thinking. This is the wrong forum for that, we think here.

My coworker who was covid 19 positive came back to work last night. He was telling us he thought at one point he may not make it. He was weak, fevers on and off, dehydrated and having shortness of air. At one point he went to his local ER because he was afraid to sleep, thinking he may not wake up. They gave him iv fluids and sent him home. He wanted to stay. Scary virus.

There you go again with the 4 letter F word, Lucille. Calling people names like a 4 year old. Deep thought, that?

Really, quoting a supernatural creature from mythology!!

A vaccine is 12 to 18 months away. Our immune system are meant to be used or it grows week and inefficient. Staying inside a sterile environment is only hurting you. It is like being bed ridden for months. The muscles start atrophying from lack of use. The same happens with you immune system. I feel sorry for the people who held up in their homes when they do finally venture out. Their immune systems are going to be so week that any little minor virus or bacteria is going to make them really ill. A simple cold will turn into pneumonia, a simple laceration will turn into an infection, or a norovirus will cause a electrolyte imbalance harming your heart.

Only one entity knows when it is your time to die and how. And no doctor, no governor, or no heath policy has
any power to prevent it.

Let's not forget the situation of the captain of the aircraft carrier who was fired/relieved from duty for asking for help with the covid problems with his young sailors ... and later either 50 or 60% were found to be carriers but asymptomatic.

I have heard from sources that I trust that a substantial number of children and young people can be carriers without showing symptoms.

This morning on a medically related program on our national radio an E R doctor who has elderly parents at home says that it is hard to go to work - and he finds it troubling that many are refusing to follow the guidance from the people skilled in the field as to what practises we all need to follow.

While I am old and thus at increased risk, my pensions are coming and I am not financially troubled ... and I have personal mental and lifeskill resources that have seen me through thus far without too serious disruption.

Following daily messages and minimal Sunday worship has helped, also working at building a phone tree at church and among family and friends has provided some interesting effort.

I'm wondering about taping some messages to strangers along the street in town asking if they are going stir-crazy yet ... and would they like to talk to an old fart who was a kid on his Dad's rather large farm when World War II started in 1939 and the hired hands went to war ... and has had some interesting adventures since ...

... as a number of you know some parts of!

Thinking of starting a thread here ... how much did you folks hear of Canada's worst ever massacre of 22 plus the shooter killed a couple of weeks ago by a guy mimicking a cop over about a 12 hour trail through several villages on our east coast/Nova Scotia?

ole joyful

There are hospitals in New York city looking for employees. Maybe you should volunteer to increase your immunity.

The likelihood of an effective vaccine being produced is low. The vaccine attaches to the exterior of lung cells were there isn't blood flow. We don't have any vaccines for the common cold (Corona viruses are one of the viruses that cause the common cold) and the flu vaccine is more miss than hit. Plus there are the decades of regulatory red tape before a vaccine is marketed to the public, typically in the 10 - 15 year range. Are you going to wait for that many years to lift the lock-down?

There are hospitals that are laying off personnel. Two of our 3 health systems in Pittsburgh are opening back up for elective surgeries against the governors order. I'm sure the 3rd will follow. Census is so low. Beds are empty. Patients were being denied or avoiding needed treatment.

Volunteers aren't allowed in hospitals presently. We sent a delegate of nurses to a NYC hospital back in the 80s or 90s from where I worked. NY hospitals were overwhelmed even back then.

To answer your question sure I would go back to work if called.

Function - my state is similar, hospital workers losing job and patients going without necessary medical care. What a sad situation. I'm too old and it's been too long since I was in the medical profession to return to work.

More "deep thinking" on display.

I had an appointment in the next town over, and across the street was a Vons. So I shopped there and commented to the checker that they had more than I had been able to find in my suburb next door. She said she waits on so many people angry about supply issues. I said I think that they are doing a good job, and she replied, "Let me give you a $5 store discount!" I think she needed a happy face and wanted to thank me for it.

This morning during my shopping trip to both Safeway and Target did I finally experience impatient and rude people. At Target a customer was yelling "social distancing" to anyone that was within 20 feet of her and wanted the entire aisles to herself. Some played along, most didn't and she became more irate. The store manager had to intervene. Safeway stores have added Sunday morning to the senior shopping times which upset many under 60's who wanted to shop this morning. Security was called out to deal with some not very happy people.