Chicken Strips, Waffles and Ramen

I weaved my cart through the other customers to the back of the self-checkout line.

I looked at the line ahead to assess my waiting time, my eyes meeting the woman’s in front of me for a brief second.

I sensed the woman was looking around in anticipation, waiting to start a conversation with the first person to acknowledge her.  By making eye contact, I had opened the door.

The woman was older and small.  Her bony finger raised and pointed to the Tastykake pie display we were standing near.

“Paying one dollar for those pies is ridiculous,” she began.  “And they’re so small anymore.  Back in the day they were BIGGER in their own package wrapper.  Now they put them in those foil pans and box them.”

“I remember the package wrappers, you’re right,” I acknowledged, dropping my phone into my purse.  “The pies were bigger.”

The woman’s finger remained outstretched pointing angrily at the pies.  I noticed half of her finger was missing.

“Not only that!  One dollar is the SALE price!  The normal price for one of those pies is one dollar and seventy-nine cents!”

I saw the wonder on her face and went with the feeling.

“That IS ridiculous,” I affirmed.

The line began to move forward, us with it.  As the woman moved forward, her attention moved forward, and she began to conversate with the woman ahead of her.

The grocery store was the second store on my journey.  Although I purchased other items, I left our house with three particular items on my list.

Chicken strips, waffles and ramen.

Routine encapsulates more than just Declan’s schedule.  Routine encapsulates diet too.

The chicken strips ran out days ago.  I had attempted to load up on them before the quarantine, but they were sold out.  When they ran out, the hole was filled with other staples: ramen or waffles.

The chicken is particular.  Declan only eats Target brand chicken strips.  If Declan’s taste buds have evolved in anyway it can be gauged by his choice of chicken.  Perdue was the original chicken strip of choice, which evolved to Tyson strips.  Now, it’s Target brand.

When Declan is on a chicken brand, only that chicken will do.  Every other chicken is in a separate category: disgusting.  Try and serve another brand to him and he will physically start to gag.

Oh, how wondrous and strong the mind can be.

When I made it to Target, I noticed what other shoppers have noticed.  It was quiet.  No one talked.  No one looked at each other.  It might have been because it was early, but no one shopped on the same aisle. 

And the aisles were still empty of products.

We all seemed to stare at the empty shelves to determine where the product we were looking for was supposed to be to confirm it wasn’t there.  I was able to get the last two packages of the required chicken.  But shelves for waffle mix and ramen noodles were empty, leaving me without.

The grocery store was busier.  There was little eye contact or conversation, except for my pie lady.  Fresh fruits and vegetables filled my cart alone, Ramen and waffle mix sold out.

It was at CVS, my final try, where I found success.  With waffle mix and 7 packages of ramen in hand I checked out.

“I didn’t check, but by chance, do you have any Clorox wipes?” I asked the checkout clerk.

“No,” he smiled, “Still all out of those.”

“Just so you know, you’re the only place that has this mix and ramen left in the area.  It’s all sold out.”

“The mix makes sense.  I’ve been doing retail a long time so I like to watch shopping trends. I know, I’m a dork.  We’re out of cake mixes, icing, marshmallows and rice krispies.  It seems like parents are trying to find activities they can do with their kids inside to keep them busy.”

“Makes sense,” I replied, thanking the clerk and leaving, finally with all the items checked off my list.

One more week of food purchased, ready to meet the routine of Declan’s diet.  Which gives me one more week to hope to return to the store and find stocked shelves and shopping normalcy. 

What a unique time we are experiencing!