Thursday, April 30, 2020

going out/coming in

So here's what going out and coming back in is like, for me, an average citizen, taking what I assume are usual precautions. I'm not in healthcare or front line work, and I still see TONS of people out and about as though nothing has changed. So.
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First, I give it some thought. Do I *need* to go anywhere? Can I go early or late and avoid crowds? What's the best walking route? If I need to make more than 1 stop, what's the best sequence?
Then, I get dressed. I'm wearing the same pair of sneakers so as not to mess up more shoes than I need to (more on that in a sec). Most of the time I wear a hat, because the mask straps are pretty tight and either smash my nose against my face or chafe my ears. I put on a mask whenever I leave my place now. Some mask straps stay in place better over a ballcap. I keep a big bobby pin on hand in case I need to loosen a strap off my ear and secure it to a hat.
Thus clad, I head out. I touch as few surfaces as possible but my apartment door and building door must be touched. So, before I even hit the sidewalk, I've already touched 2 surfaces. Boo.
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Then, I'm outside. Walking is an exercise in Frogger x Mario Kart. If folks are masked and taking evasive precautions, I stay on the sidewalk. For the oblivious, the couples, the couples with dogs, the couples with dogs and strollers, the talkers, the gesturers, etc., I take a wide berth, either walking on the curb or on the street. I try not to get pinned close to buildings or in construction chutes.
Interestingly, Seattle drivers as assholish as ever. I still narrowly avoid getting mowed down in crosswalks.
If my trip takes me inside a store or building, I keep an eye out for arrows--which aisles are one-way? How to dodge aisle dawdlers? Did I get everything? (One recent dash into Bartells yielded white chocolate chips instead of actual chocolate chips.) Where to stand for checkout--most places now have X's taped off at 6 feet intervals. At checkout, I bag my own stuff, ask the cashier how they're doing--which always yields interesting factoids such as the DIY plexiglass at the smoke shop on Lake City--and then take myself outside as efficiently as I can.
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Coming home is the reverse of this. I dodge my way home, and get myself inside, immediately take off my shoes, sunglasses, mask, hat, and throw everything but the shoes into the bathroom sink. Then I wash my hands, and all the sink stuff, and spray my shoes with bleach spray. I also spray the door handle, lock, and carpet by the door. Then I strip off my clothes, socks, underwear, and hop in the shower. Since I'm hand-laundering (avoiding shared laundry), I wash everything and wring it out and hang it up in the shower after I'm done.
And that's it. 

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