On Consumerism: Consumerism during a viral pandemic

By ARTHUR VIDRO
By Arthur Vidro

Despite the state-ordered shutdown of “nonessential” businesses, consumers can still try to consume.

If your favorite shop has been shuttered, reach out by telephone or computer and place an order. You won’t be allowed into the shop, but perhaps the proprietor will get you what you want. Some sort of arrangement that isn’t face-to-face might be worked out for payment and delivery.

As for the places that remain open, my gosh, such changes! Here is where I went last week.

Though banks are essential, mine has locked its doors. They, like McDonald’s, have switched to drive-thru service only. First time I used a drive-through in about 30 years. I don’t like drive-through. Plus, health-wise, I am more at risk handling the same banking canister other customers are using than if I were allowed inside but didn’t touch anything except what was handed me by the teller.

Taped lines are popping up at checkout areas, showing customers where to stand and guiding them into standing farther apart than in the past. Some businesses have created a wee bit more separation between the customer and the cashier.

The checkout process at CVS required my answering an inane marketing question on a computer screen, using a stylus pen I would rather not have handled. In these dire times, at least, can’t we do away with these automated marketing spiels?

The governor’s order specified vets for livestock are essential, but I wasn’t sure if his memo covered pets. So I called our vet. Yes, they have their usual days and hours and welcome our pets – but until things change, human owners will not be allowed inside the building. That is going to make communication more difficult.

Are you familiar with pet gates? They are portable barriers to keep pets away from staircases, or to confine them into (or block them from entering) certain rooms. Claremont Pet Center sells pet gates. I entered the store but couldn’t get past the vestibule; a pet gate had been erected to keep all humans out of the store.

Instead, a masked man – an employee – came over to take my order. One could shop, but couldn’t browse or walk around. That will lessen the amount of impulse purchases – items one buys that one hadn’t given a thought to until spotting on a shelf.

At Big Lots, I didn’t notice any differences in how business is conducted.

A trip to the post office led to surprises. Now there is a clear plexiglass-looking curtain separating the clerk behind the counter from the customers. This curtain should prevent any sneezes or coughs on one side of the barrier from hitting people on the other side. There is about an inch of space between the curtain and countertop, so items can be handed back and forth.

Also, there was an X on the floor telling customers where to stand. I stood there and stretched out my arm, but couldn’t reach the counter. So I stepped forward, placed my parcel on the counter with a $5 bill, and scurried back to the X.

Then I was summoned back to the counter to respond to the computer screen’s question of whether anything I was shipping was hazardous. It didn’t suffice to speak my answer to the clerk. No, the computerized screen demanded an answer directly from me. Otherwise, my item wouldn’t ship.

To answer the question, I had to use a stylus pen attached to the screen. The same pen handled by all the other customers. Even if the postal clerk wanted to, the barrier now prevents her from cleaning the pen. It is a virus waiting to happen. Future generations will be baffled by the idiocy of the postal service and other businesses in insisting its customers share a stylus pen during a viral pandemic.

This very newspaper has eliminated all its weekday paper editions, at least for now. It is the advertisements, much more than the newsstand purchase price, that pay for publishing a newspaper. Stores that have shut down have little reason to advertise and little money to spend.

To some extent I disagree with the governor on what is “essential.” That is not an attack; “essential” is a matter of opinion, and there is always room for people to have honest disagreements. Nobody’s list of essentials will fully please everyone. But I wonder if the liquor stores, all owned by the state, would still be deemed essential if they were privately owned.

Ifyou have consumerism questions, send them to Arthur Vidro in the care of this newspaper, which publishes his column every weekend.