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Sanitary Theater
For a long time, the procedures we go through with TSA at airports have been described as “Security Theater.” That is, they are less designed to actually be effective, but more to make people feel that something is being done.
I think we are now going through a similar “sanitary theater” now. Lots of blue gloves, but no-one ever changes them. At the local grocery store, an obvious point of contamination was the credit card reader keyboard which was used by everyone. That was “fixed” by putting a thin plastic film over the keyboard. Of course, that film isn’t changed, so it is basically the same issue as before.
Even if you wear your blue gloves, when you get home, the groceries you unload have been touched by multiple people. What good were the blue gloves?
What scenes of the Sanitary Theater have you seen?
Published in General
In the small grocery where I shop, the checkers wear gloves (I assume for their own protection) and masks, and they wipe down the reader, pen and countertop between each customer. I think they are being very responsible.
I agree about the goods being handled by multiple unseen persons; that’s why I keep sanitizing my hands.
Some kids in my area get to hunt Easter eggs “together” but only pick up their own eggs (those they decorated and their own parents hid).
I recommended that they roll all the eggs in dirt so all are equally unsanitary.
Funny you should ask – I’ve been running a commentary on this every time I come home from the market. The first one I noticed was that the grocery chain market eliminated music in the store; then people stopped making eye contact; exaggerated (almost dramatic) movement away from someone (me) nearby (ungloved, unmasked); (some) people glare if I go the wrong way in now 1-way aisles – many look as clueless about the rules as I am except that they are masked; most people wear masks or bandit-style handkerchiefs. But they still root around the shelves for the exact jar of peanut butter they want. Check the egg cartons for cracks. On the upside, the checkers seem genuinely appreciative if I make small talk and tell them I’m not in a hurry (there are many new checkers unfamiliar with products and code and the POS software.)
We just got back from a neighborhood stroll – not to be confused with the walk in the woods (allowed) and not at the beach (not allowed.) There are people who we know know one another well, who used to walk regularly talking 9 to 90, who now walk on either side of the street when walking together. Regularly and still talking 9 to 90 but loudly. People (who you know) who see you walking but do not acknowledge a Howdy from the street when they are gardening 50 – 75 ft away in their foundation beds.
But also to the upside – St Michaels in Charleston (maybe my favorite vacation church) has done a superlative job of committing its services to video. It’s not theatre- it’s church. I’m very nervous about doing Zoom – but I might have to make an exception for some of their activities.
Here are a couple of examples from our local grocery store…
For a couple of days they wouldn’t allow the use of the reusable grocery bags that they sell in-store. Well, those aren’t any more unsanitary than anything else in the market that’s been handled by who-knows-how-many folks. The next time I went there the reusables were okay.
The second act of theatre was this. The store marked out six foot intervals on the floor at the check stands to help shoppers keep the appropriate “social distance.” So far so good. When I was there the other morning the only open check stands were opposite one another so everyone was funneled back to back into the same cattle chute. Meanwhile another eight registers are closed.
Saw this today as we took a long walk. Is there already anything more socially distancing than a port-a-potty? There was also a police car in the parking lot to enforce the edict.
Willow,
About a week ago at the supermarket, this was before masks were being required, I was in line at check out. I was not wearing a mask. The “gentleman” ahead of me wearing a makeshift scarf mask was just about finished at the cash register and his order was being bagged. At the other end of the conveyor, easily 7 feet away from him, I started to put my small number of items on the far end of the conveyor. He yelled at me to keep my distance and not “push my way in too quickly”. I simply apologized to him and said that I had thought I was over six feet away from him. When he finally had his groceries bagged and had left the register, I moved all the way up to the register. The cashier & bagger seemed sympathetic to me and happy that I had let the rather rude jerk go on his unmerry way. Then I noticed something. Both the cashier & bagger weren’t wearing masks. They had been working a long shift and had probably come within 3 feet of hundreds of people. Mr. Rude had been facing the cashier directly and was probably less than 3 feet from her unmasked face.
Anyway, I am wearing my own makeshift mask now. The stupid are rude and so self-righteous that when a real threat is right in front of them they don’t even notice but they are more than happy to attack someone who presents no threat at all because “people should stay inline”.
Regards,
Jim
Yes, they are doing that here, too.
I carry a wad of those ‘food service gloves,’ of which I always have a couple of boxes around (great for slicing, or even just touching, hot peppers). I wear one of those when dealing with the card machines and such like. Use the “scan and go” lane, where I scan the groceries myself before I put them in the cart. I don’t expect a perfect solution, because there isn’t one.
Fortunately, at least so far, folks out here in the sticks are pretty pleasant and cheerful. I haven’t run into any grumps yet, and people are still chatting freely, masks and all.
I saw someone in the frozen food section–the Stouffer’s subdivision that I frequent–thumbing through Lasagna boxes to get to the last one, presumably because it hadn’t been touched, all the while touching pretty much every box from front to back. I was really tempted to say “I hope you’re not buying pizza,” but I’m just too nice a guy.
The supermarkets and some of the c-stores where I am have gone to the plastic shields, usually hung down by wires from the ceiling, to block any direct air from getting between the clerk and customer. Of course, the air can go around or under the shield and sometimes the clerk has to come out from behind the register anyway, but I suppose it does provide some protection and at least gives the workers a little more sense of security.
I’ll give you an example from here in South Korea that was prevalent before the Wuhan Virus™️, and still can be seen now, although not as much.
Often, public restrooms have no soap and/or no way to dry your hands. YET, right outside the door, perhaps in the lobby, now there’s a bottle of hand sanitizer.
Here, they have also placed the plastic film over elevator buttons etc. The film usually has a sticker indicating it is some kind of preventative for the Wuhan Virus™️. Don’t know how that works, unless someone swoops in and wipes it down every thirty seconds.
I visited a local drug store/pharmacy over the weekend.
The county has some establishments whose workers are telling the public that Gavin Newsom has issued stricter mask regulations, so the fact I don’t wear a mask was of concern. Would I be ejected from the store? Would I be scolded?
Would my note from my doctor explaining the three health conditions that prohibit my mask wearing help out at all?
While browsing the aisles, three separate mgrs and assistant mgrs saw me, smiled a big smile and said “Hello.”
I went up with the items I wanted to check out, but the regular check out lanes were closed. All that was available was an AI scanning system. This feature was rather new to the store.
I used it to check out. The AI machine told me that my three items could not be paid for by my credit card, so I should push the help button.
This got me a cashier. She rang me up. I wondered if she was noticing that there were few people in the store, and that the AI system was replacing employees?
Anyway as I left she yelled out in an angry voice “Next time wear a mask.”
Yep, please wear a mask as otherwise the slip down the toilet of declining GDP might be marked by a serious demerit processed by the Grand Minister of Health, whose people might well be the only employees remaining in rural Northern California.
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