Quarantine Overtime

My minds doing overtime in quarantine since losing a neighbour recently. Also the people in my shops obey the 6 ft mask floor ruling at shop entrance and checkout but not always in the isle .

Over-played songs
over-vacuumed carpets
over-cleaned cupboards
I’ll need to replenish
my stock
off I’ll trot
to those well
needed shops.

Shop floors are all masked
with six feet away tape
stick to the rules
they must be obeyed
you may now take your
trolly it’s been
treated with
disinfectant spray
I have my own
hand sanitiser
anyways just incase

oh there’s something
I think I might need
those tangerines
without any seeds
is that man coming
my way oh no
I can’t breathe
Just incase he
Coughs or Sneeze
I don’t want to
catch Covid 19
phew that was close
please stay out my way

Oh look in this section
I could by some
more books to read
when I don’t want to cook
I could really lose myself
in a good story
an empty shelf here
an empty shelf there
no toilet rolls no bread
no baked beans or milk
where goes the meaning
to the word share ?

Here is this section
has something I
need rice pudding
some chocolate cake
now I don’t need to bake
one tin of custard and
a block of cheese
and some trifles please.

At the checkout
It’s masked just
the same
as at the door
when I came in
I’ll wait in the
Masking tape line
good it’s six feet apart
then I’ll have my time
to unload and pay

Please make pay with
your bank card
sorry we don’t mean
to be harsh
as we don’t want
your dirty old cash
please do call again
and have a nice day
as in good health
we will bid you will stay.

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

Dear Katrina, you have perfectly penned my own shopping trips and the thoughts that run through my mind as I try and focus on purchases, only to find my attention is on other shoppers and how close they get. I am masked and gloved. My glasses steam up. This week after weeks of shortages, there was a mountain of toilet rolls, and no one was buying them. I have had the same twenty pound note in my purse for a month. No one is using cash any more. Happy days eh? The new normal. Keeping well away from everyone.

Chris

[Katrina Mckeown]

Thank-you Chris I’m not going to say I’m glad you can relate but I’m sorry for all of us as we relate to these very stressful times indeed. I hope you stay safe as well Chris ..Kind regards Katrina

[Chris Shaw]

Yes the new normal sucks. I hope that vaccine that is being worked on in Oxford is going to be ready for September and they aren't just raising false hope. Everyone else says another year or so for a vaccine. We may all have died from boredom by then :))

[Katrina Mckeown]

Yes I hope so with the vaccine.. and I certainly hope not with dying.. but we must live in hope as what else can we do..
take care and stay safe Chris
Kind regards Katrina x

[Chris Shaw]

Keep safe x

[Robert Trakofler]

I have recently just gotten a mask from a neighbor I hate wearing it I feel like a fraud and that i am wearing a mask of despair. it is increasingly hard to wear over time without feeling like I am choking I find myself getting a little lightheaded if I wear it more than 30 minutes at a time without taking a break from it:( I resisted wearing it but then the knowledge that I could be a carrier for up to three days without symptoms and the idea of me spreading this illness pushed me to wear it. So many lessons in this turmoil dear Katrina:)

[Katrina Mckeown]

Thanks Robert.. I don’t like wearing those masks much either.. but hence one must do what one has to I suppose.
Take care Robert
Kind regards Katrina

[Gee]

I'm fortunate that I'm still leaving the house to work. My wife and child are both working from home.
At the weekends it is like being a skint retired person who cannot afford to socialise so therefore sits in all day :(
Enjoyed the read.

[Katrina Mckeown]

Thank-you for stopping by,
glad you enjoyed reading .

[jacob erin-cilberto]

this is so blasted real....as I go to kroger, those poor workers and checkers dealing with customers who don't mind the rules.
getting too close, taking carts full of toilet paper instead of just one package....
share the disease but don't share the groceries...what happened to selflessness ??
where did the caring for others go? This virus needs to bring us together in our aloneness
so we can find our way back to love and understanding for each other.
j.

[Katrina Mckeown]

Thank-you j for your insightful review. Yes hopefully we can get back to love understanding each other more.
Stay safe
Kind regards Katrina

[Patricia Wedel]

dearest Katrina... it is quite a routine when we shop...
the cashier has to spray the Conveyor Belt after each
Purchase is made. So many kind people risk their life
to check each item and smile, however, we must pump our own gasoline
and wipe the handle with disinfectant.... so do not forget to have some
always handy throughout the day. Someone told me.. in an emergency
buy some alcohol at the liquor store and mix it with gelled Aloe..
and you have your own Sanitizer... who knew. Crossing the Country to
a Gold Rush was life threatening, however, there may have been Gold
at the end of the Rainbow. Many Prayers and believe that every day is a Gift.
Your poetry has lines that are tough, but together we will survive. with love, Pat

[Katrina Mckeown]

Thank-you Pat, I do wear gloves while out shopping but your advice is brilliant about aloe Vera and alcohol, I do have both. :)
In our stores some people are still not regarding the 6ft away distancing and come up closer .. they don’t know if they might have Covid 19 .. what if they cough or sneeze that’s what scares me
since I’ve lost a neighbour just recently.
Stay safe and well
Kind regards Katrina

[Patricia Wedel]

People are becoming Rude and not keeping a distance. It is more frightening every day. Perhaps we could wear Skunk perfume. Lol. It is an Idea or at least carry a bottle of Bug Spray to say “Bug Off”.
It might work without actually using the Spray. Desperate times call for desperate measures. truly, Pat