Apr
28
2020
Unintentionally Breaking The Rules
Posted in Daily Living 6 Comments
Each week at the market I go to, the protocol has changed.
The management has taken the virus crisis very seriously.
Each week, I am learning to follow signs with new directions.
Mostly…
Wearing a face mask is mandatory in our state.
No one may enter a public building without one.
I watch the older gentlemen gather carts from the parking lot.
They wipe each one down and spray them with disinfectant.
There is one way into the store and one way out.
That took a little getting used to the first week the change was made.
X’s on the floor at each register mark the six feet apart distance point.
A blue line tells each customer where to wait until they are called forward.
I was not prepared for the arrows on the floor at the top of each aisle.
One week they were not there; the next week they were.
The arrows are meant to control the flow of people on an aisle at one time.
It is a good idea.
Except, it was foreign to me.
A creature of habit, I have my own way through the market.
And then it happened.
I was walking down the aisle and could feel the stares.
I looked up and two women were in single file at the other end of the aisle.
They were stopped.
They had no intention of moving.
Even without seeing the bottom of their faces beneath the mask, I knew they were frowning.
They were frowning at me.
I looked down at their feet and saw the arrow pointing in the opposite direction.
They were going the right way.
I was going the wrong way.
I put my hands up apologetically.
I am so sorry, I said humbly, I will turn around.
I immediately turned my shopping cart and walked the other way.
Only then, did they begin to move.
It struck me how ingrained these new rules are becoming.
We are changing the way we always did things.
We are required to follow these new rules.
I have far to go in my compliance.
I was not the enemy but, in a very real sense, I was.
I was going the opposite way and it stopped everyone in their tracks.
If I could have seen the rest of their face, I knew the kind of look I would have gotten.
It was as if they feared that I had the virus and did not want to pass me.
The whole incident made me sad.
I am tired of not seeing people’s faces under their masks.
I am weary of not seeing a smile or someone else seeing mine.
We are expressionless faces; nondescript people blending into the background.
I understand the reason, but I am weary.
I do not like the feeling of mistrust that seems palpable.
Without saying a word, there is a marked boundary around each of us.
No one wants anyone else to come close.
As I was checking out, I followed the procedures.
I stood on the X that designated the six feet apart distance.
I waited until the cashier wiped down the belt, scanner, and credit card machine.
I came forward when she called me.
Thank you for being so diligent in keeping your work space so clean, I said to her.
My pleasure, she answered.
She scanned my groceries quickly and efficiently.
We both wore our masks and gloves.
A woman stepped forward, disregarding the X on the floor.
She crossed over the blue line, which she was to wait behind.
She began to put her items on the belt.
I felt a strange feeling in my stomach.
The same feeling the women must have felt when I walked the wrong way.
The cashier looked at the woman but said nothing.
The woman seemed oblivious to her mistake.
She was too close and that was a problem.
It wasn’t a problem a month ago.
She and I might have talked a bit or at least exchanged smiles.
She had a blue line to stand behind, thank you very much.
Coming close was a thing of the past.
It bothered me all the way home.
It didn’t bother me that the woman crossed the line.
It bothered me that the line was even there at all.
Why is the line there?
Intellectually, I know why the line is there.
I know why the X is on the floor.
I know why the arrows point one way and then the other.
I know why there is one way in and one way out.
But I don’t like it.
I don’t like it one bit.
I want it to go back to the way it was before an unseen virus traveled stealthily around the world.
I want masks off, gloves off, and smiles on faces again.
Be kind and compassionate to one another. (Ephesians 4:32)
For now, our kindness and compassion has to be behind a mask.
Our kindness and compassion has to be six feet away from someone else.
We are not each other’s enemy.
We are in this together.
Let’s extend grace upon grace to one another.
That grace will help the distance between us not feel so vast.
Smile under your mask anyway.
Your smile will be seen in your eyes, and goodness knows we need to see smiles.
Dear Gina,
How true. A friend saw me at the grocery store yesterday, and I could tell looking at her eyes that she was smiling. Almost like I saw her whole face and what she looked like — all through her eyes. Maybe this time can include some closer looking into one another’s eyes with mutual understanding and a call for patience. God sees our hearts (which we rarely see) and sees our all. He is there even now, moreso through our eyes and voices.
Oh, Michelle, I could not have said it any better.
Let’s smile and communicate through our eyes during this time.
Our eyes will be our point of connection.
Gina
I feel the same Gina, going to a store feels hostile now?
Maybe we can begin to change that, Sherie.
One masked smile or kind word at a time.
Gina
So true, all of it–I want this distancing to end! And we can still smile, even under the masks.
Yes, we can, Sue.
We must!
It matters.
Gina