Initially, it was a nightmare trying to get a groceries home delivery slot from my supermarket – you were lucky to get one 3 weeks ahead and in April
an order for £71 resulted in only £47 worth of goods being supplied. There was talk of vulnerable customers getting priority, but there was no
sign of that with the online service - I doubt if they had
even my date of birth to identify me as such. However the service improved considerably as new drivers were taken on and new vans purchased. A great service that I would not want to be without.
It is now 13 months since I have been in one of major supermarkets - the nearest 9 miles away.
With only essential shops open i.e. food, pharmacy and supermarkets, there were attempts to get supermarkets to block off what the powers to be regarded as "non-essential" products. But where do you draw the line? If your kettle has given up the ghost, a new one becomes an essential item to healthy living. If you are working from home and need a charger for your mobile phone or IPad it becomes an essential item; it could be argued that computer products, books & magazines could be crucial for your mental well being - so that distinction was soonabandoned.
The beneficiaries of Lockdown shopping were the local stores - I have never
spent as much in Earlston on top-up shopping - at the Co-op, convenience store, butcher, baker, greengrocer, pharmacy.
An anecdote - a friend (not online) had knitted a cardigan that she was pleased about - and then realised there was nowhere open to buy buttons to complete the garment!
- UK - 4.39milion cases; 127,000 deaths
- Scotland - 224,024 cases, 7664 deaths
- In my own area, the Scottish Borders, Covid deaths were low at around 350 by September 2020, but then they rose sharpy and currently stand at 2883 in a population of 115,000; and remain the lowest figure in mainland Scotlahd.
- Worldwide 141.4 million cases; 3 million deaths
- The USA, India and Brazil have seen the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by France, Russia and the UK, with very few places left untouched.
- As the UK moves out of Lockdown, there are major concerns at the spread in France (how long will it take to cross the channel?); and the figures for India (where my brother is currently working) are escalating fast.
Images courtesy of Pixabay************
We tried to get grocery delivery here, but we were too far from the stores, so no one wanted to do it. However, we did do orders on line and pick up at the store a few times. Mostly, we did a dash in and out of the store while following all of the safety guidelines. I will admit that in the beginning, I was pretty nervous when I would to into a store.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am wondering how I will/ be going into supermarkets and crowds, given it is now it is well over a year since I have been in a town.
DeleteWe cut out shopping trips in half. Spent a lot time ordering the things we needed.
ReplyDeleteIn the end we discovered we also cut our spending. So I guess that is a good thing.
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Tim Brannan, The Other Side: 2021: The A to Z of Monsters
Thanks, Timothy, for your comment. We are a bit similar.We have been saving money during Lockdown, mainly because we are not doing much discretionary spending and not going out for lunches, which we liked doing very much so.
ReplyDeleteWe didn’t do online grocery shopping but only my husband went to the supermarket and he went very early in the morning.
ReplyDeleteWe all followed the statistics and got used to following the r value.
My husband loves grocery shopping (I know, I know). He just couldn't come at online shopping although we did it when we needed to. A man's got to have a hobby and finding specials in the supermarket is Robert's hobby. I used to be obsessed with the statistics but stopped recording them in January. I think I found it far too depressing in the end.
ReplyDelete