Kindness during supermarket stress..

When did shopping for food become so difficult?  Oh yes, around the time the toilet roll started to run out (where did it all go I still wonder?).  Being a considerate shopper, I didn't buy any extra supplies.  So the emptier shelves that have followed have felt worrisome.   Getting enough to eat feels more like an epic mountaineering experience rather than popping to the shops.

On my daily walk by the sea life can for a time feel relatively normal.  Spring is blossoming and the sunshine is a tonic. Approaching my local supermarket feels far from normal.  The empty High Street feels eerie and the spaced out queues of people at doorways are still a shock.

Trying to navigate around aisles and people at a safe distances is a logistical challenge.  Unless I actually dive into the chilled vegetable section I can't get the 2m clearance!

Woven in is the constant thoughts of what have I touched that could have coronavirus lurking on packaging?  To be honest, I'm ready to implode with stress or cry.

This week's kindness theme has come into action.   I still feel that knot in my stomach when there are no red lentils, chopped tomatoes, nut butters and half the other things I was secretly dreaming of. Now, I am kind and understanding that shops are doing their best to bring us enough food.  When someone is taking ages in the section I would like to visit, I just breathe kindly and wait.

I made it to the checkout with a fairly good selection of alternatives today feeling relieved.  And smiled at the checkout lady who returned the kindness by telling me that there was some gluten free pasta out the back if I needed some (she had seen my gluten free bread).  I nearly hugged her (in spirit) with tears in my eyes at the kindness of my local Coop saving some gluten free pasta for those who normally eat it.

Kindness hadn't made shopping easy, but it feels just a little bit more doable.
















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