I understand why some of you are having your online grocery orders cancelled. I browsed Walmart at 7 AM today. I've never seen so many people in there at that hour, but it wasn't crowded. There were no more disinfectant wipes at the entrance to wipe down the cart, but they did have that foaming hand sanitizer in the big dispenser. Another customer offered to give me one of her wipes that she'd brought in a sandwich bag. I thanked her and declined. Then she laughed when I pumped out some foam and smeared it all over the cart handle. Really, I'm touching stuff in the store that's been touched by how many other people already, so I'm not sweating it too much.
Supposedly Walmart (and other grocers) have closed at night to allow the employees to sanitize and stock the shelves. I don't see much evidence of stocking having gone on there. The candy, condiments, stuff that outside vendors deliver, like chips, were pretty well stocked. The vendors were stocking some while I was there. The 2% milk was fully stocked. Refrigerated orange juice. Packaged cookies. Boxed dessert mixes. Some of the produce was full, but no potatoes. Packaged salad mixes, spinach, all sizes, fully stocked. Some ground meat and sausage in the meat counter. Some frozen and fresh seafood of the more expensive variety. Ice cream and pie fully stocked. Frozen breakfast items pretty well stocked. But through the rest of the store, the meat counters, both fresh and frozen, dry goods shelves, freezers, dairy, not so much. The store was entirely empty or mostly empty of many things, including health/beauty/personal care products. YMMV at your Walmart.
There were a few employees picking for the online orders. I didn't think to ask if people would have more success if they allowed substitutions vs. not. When I was using the self-checkout, I overheard an employee tell another customer that Walmart was calling several people off over the last few days. That seems to fly in the face of grocers needing to hire people so desperately to keep their shelves stocked, doesn't it? But from what I saw, they're not getting anything in to stock. Yet. From what I saw, one employee could work overnight to stock the shelves and would probably be sent home early.
The customer responded loudly, "Well they might as well just close Walmart then!"
I wisely resisted the urge to chuck one of the extra large cans of green beans in my cart at her head. (Just kidding. I really didn't have the urge, but you get what I mean. Sure, lets cut people off the little bit of food that's still left on the shelf, lady, starting with you.)
I did have a couple of pleasant interactions with other customers, trying to keep 6 feet between us. Spoke with a woman who said she was a nurse. I told her to keep safe and I think she appreciated that. I helped an elderly lady find the Campbell's condensed tomato soup. (Those cans all look alike and it really is harder to pick out an exact kind when the shelf is mostly empty and it's spread out all over the place.) A couple was walking through the store up and down the aisles, each carrying a cup of coffee, no shopping cart or basket, both wearing gloves. They weren't acting like shoppers at all, more like they were there to observe in some official capacity.
I'll probably go somewhere else in a couple of days, maybe places I don't normally go frequently, and report back on what I observe there, if anyone is interested.
Hey, if Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks in The Terminal) could survive trapped in an airport eating ketchup packets, so can we!
And there's mustard, all kinds! Plus hot sauces! (Use sparingly.)
