From the view of a senior shopper, the supermarket experience is all new. Many supermarkets are following “senior hours” generally a few mornings a week. Among the stores in McHenry County, Jewel and Mariano’s have scheduled “senior hours” into their operation. Mariano’s is open 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., two hours a day, for seniors and those with health conditions. Jewel is a little less frequent, basically on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. for seniors and others at high risk medically. What both chains have in common is an early shopping experience for a certain population of the community.
Going to Mariano’s became the goal because we’ve (wife and I) been regular Jewel shoppers, and the Mariano’s experience would come with no preconceived notions of past shopping. Having been mostly retired for a year, getting up earlier than 9 o’clock for me presents a challenge of its own. This experiment in “senior shopping” warranted an early rise which had not been accomplished more than a few times over the past year. My wife set her alarm for 5:30 a.m. The other alarm was set for 6:30 a.m. Her earlier rise allowed for the time she needed to get ready. I could shave, brush my teeth, and get dressed, and maybe take up five minutes. We got to Mariano’s by 7 a.m.
We walked into the store wearing gloves and a mask. However, I believe the jury is still out on the safest method to proceed, whether to wear gloves and a mask. Some say the typical masks won’t help much and people tend to touch their face with their gloves because they invariably start itching. Some say masks and gloves are helpful especially for those with compromised health such as respiratory issues.
Normally Mariano’s is super crowded in the aisles and at produce and meat counters. This early in the morning and on this day, a Saturday morning, we would not have any difficulty with six foot separation. You could successfully have 10-to-12 foot separation if you chose or even one shopper per aisle separation. After buying whatever produce we picked up in our gloves, we worked our way to the aisle with the paper products. Had to know whether Mariano’s at 7 a.m. on a Saturday had a supply of toilet paper and paper towels. The store had these things, though in modest supply. You would also get to read a typed sign telling you as a customer how much of these products you could pick off the shelves and put into your cart. We were a bit perplexed. We thought we could pick one of each of the items listed. We took a package of toilet paper and a package of paper towels. We didn’t pick up anything else on the list for this trip.
We’d find at the checkout some confusion over how much of these items a customer could take per visit. The checkout clerk told us we had to give one package back. Stunned for just a moment, we wisely pointed to the toilet paper and returned the roll of paper towels. We couldn’t find our favorite flavored water or favorite tuna or some other favorite items that shopping at another supermarket for the past 20 years often does to its customers, making them unconsciously dependent on certain brands or just plain loyal (depends on how you look at it).
You may see this “senior shopping” experience as amusing or you may see it as a sad statement of the current times. We saw it as a relief for us. We have sheltered in place as best we can and worry about venturing out to the supermarket where it’s generally a whole lot busier than any other place. We applaud the stores for doing everything they can to get us “the senior citizens” a safe shopping experience.
A note: There are other ways to shop, such as online grocery shopping. It might pay to go to your favorite supermarket online service and take a look at the thousands of items online. You won’t have the experience we did, but you’ll still have food and hopefully a few more rolls of toilet paper.
