A local report:

Went into my local, small town country grocery this morning, for the first time in 3 months–that period not being because of corona, but the normal pattern of an isolated, well stocked person. Traffic going in (12 miles) was nearly normal, maybe 10-20% less. Not one person in a vehicle was wearing a mask, as you would expect. In this area, it is common for people to wave when passing each other, maybe half the time. But today, nearly every person waved. It was a sense of comaraderie, of a shared (perceived) danger, and gladness to see others moving about fairly normally, hopefully a harbinger of returned normalcy (such as it may be).

First stop was the transfer station. Same man as usual taking the fee, only he was wearing a useless mask, apparently made from a piece of old shirt or the like. A new sign instructed people to stay in the car. And no longer was I required to print my name on a clipboarded sheet. Just hand a $5 and a $1 to the man, who carefully took it from my hand without touching me.

At the grocery, there was no sign demanding a mask for customers, and so was actually surprised to see all the employees and about half the customers, wearing masks. Many just pieces of cloth over the face. Asked one clerk (they all know me) what, if any limits were on the food items. "Just don't hoard," came the reply. Turns out that they had stopped selling napkins, TP, and paper towels altogether, because outsiders had been coming in and buying it up, to hoard in the more metropolitan areas. No problem whatsoever for this anon.

So they had been putting signs on various items, stating a limit, but none were up. I got no more than 2 of anything, except for 3 loaves of bread…was advised that there was a limit on meat products, of 2 packaged items, but that if you ordered things from the butcher behind the counter, it was biz as usual. Only a few items on my list not in stock. Flax seeds. Rice cakes.

The store manager walked by, with a mask, and we talked for a few seconds. She did not social space. I said I hoped we could get back to normal soon, and she said, unprompted, "I think Trump is doing a FANTASTIC job with the thing." Here is the odd thing….the reply that came out of my mouth was, "Thank you." And it came out that way because I totally identify with the leadership of POTUS, a substantial merging of my personal intention with that of the President and his Team.

Checkout was a minor bummer, because the 60ish lady clerk informed me that wearing a mask was a "basic courtesy." I know where she is coming from, but she does not know where I am coming from. So some social tension between the shirts & the skins, so to speak.