COSTCO And The Corona Virus

Friday I took the leap and ventured out to Tigard to visit Costco.  The plan was to get a few cleaning supplies, some chicken and fish that could be cut and rewrapped for the freezer and get some fruit and produce.  Well, friends - don't make any plans because you're likely not going to get what you came for................

The first challenge is getting into the parking lot.  Prepare to be in a very long line of cars that end up blocking cross traffic and end up in horns blaring and fist shaking.  OK - several minutes will go by and then, YES, you're on your way to parking.  Now you have a new challenge - I won't scare you with the details - suffice it to say that if you manage to park without someone hitting your car, running over a shopper or any other mayhem - CONGRATULATIONS.  You are now ready to get a shopping cart and enter the store.

Did I say "shopping cart" ?  OK, at a distance I see about 20 carts left standing and about 30 people running to get one.  Perhaps this is an advantage to being "old" because a nice young man got two and gave me one.

OK ............... it's time to shop!

Costco employees are doing a great job.  As I entered a girl wiped my cart handle with a disinfectant and everywhere I looked, the employees were hard at work.  It was disconcerting, however, to see the lines waiting to cash out - with the end of the lines approximately 3/4 of the way to the back of the warehouse.

ONWARD - now it's my turn to grab and go ......... OK, there are three packages of fresh salmon so I make a running leap, grab one successfully and go to check out the fresh chicken (organic, please).  Sorry - there isn't even one package of chicken anywhere in the store except for the cooked ones (oops, only about 8 left so, another running leap for this old lady.)

Toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex, cleaning supplies??? Well, No, not today ..........  Navigation through the aisles is another challenge but finally, it's my turn to wait in one of the 30 cart long lines.  It's said that "patience is a virtue".

The checkers are amazingly efficient and they have me checked out before I barely finish loading my items on the belt.  So, all is good.

Only one more challenge left - loading the car and leaving the parking place and heading for the street.  It's a last chance to be patient - just allow about 20 minutes to a half hour to get out and ........... SUCCESS - you are on your way home.

Costco is now a half day project so plan ahead and good luck!!!