Grocery Shopping

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Trees had shades of orange, yellow and red. Only a few infrequent trees were still somewhat green. The sky was a bright blue dotted with clouds. Pigeons flew in cohesive groups around buildings. As I walked past the door, a cold breeze smacked my face. The weather was deceptively cold for the bright sun. I pulled the metallic zipper of my gray hoodie in order to try to negate the effects of the cold weather. I had not been outside the house in a long time due to the pandemic. But I still wanted to stay in the house since it was a Sunday. But Mom had wanted me to buy groceries from the shop. Although I knew that masks had to be donned by anybody outside, it was still strange seeing a street of people wearing masks. 

As I turned the corner, the wind subsided. The street was built on such terrain that it had a mild slope. When I got to the end of the street, I saw an old man making a closed fist facing upwards. I followed his eyes to see a squirrel standing upright. It seemed as if the squirrel thought the man had something to eat. I smirked in amusement and crossed the street as the signal turned white.

There was a park to the left, but it had been closed to combat the rising cases of Covid-19. But the green shade of trees had been shifted to an autumnal variety of colors. When I used to go to school physically, I used to take the park as a shortcut up the hill. It seemed larger now that it had lost all of its visitors other than the birds and squirrels. I once again turned the corner and had to walk down another slope. This street was accompanied by large numbers of cars, buses, and trucks speeding by. The banner on the building to the right was orange, with clear white letters that read “Western Beef”. It was a convenient grocery store that was near my apartment.

I entered the store and as soon as I was about to look at the list of items to buy I realized, to my dismay, that I had forgotten the money back at my house. I lifted my shopping cart so that I could move faster. As I ran up the slope, my mask caused my glasses to fog up. As a result, I had to slow down to a walk. When the fog cleared, I started to run again. Eventually, I reached the lobby of my apartment. 

I entered the lobby using the revolving doors but I refrained from touching the handle as it was a commonly touched surface. The lobby was a huge room with four pillars surrounding the center. Between the pillars were 4 three seater sofas with a coffee table in the center. To the right side was the reception was a doorman manning it. I walked through the lobby and turned left to a hallway that contained 3 elevators. I pressed the button and waited for the elevator. But the elevator never came. I decided to climb up the stairs. The black door that led to the staircase open without protest as I pushed it. I lifted the shopping cart and braced myself to climb twenty-four flights of stairs.

After great effort, I reached my floor as a sore mess. I walked down the sufficiently lit hallway, my footsteps muffled by the carpet. I reached into my pocket and pulled a key ring that contained two keys for the locks. I opened the door and removed my shoes. I walked hastily to the living room and found a $20 bill under a paperweight on the coffee table. Snatching the money, I put on my shoes and exited the apartment. 

When I got on the elevator, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. As I glanced at the time, I remembered that Western Beef closes at 5 pm on weekends. I had left the house at 4 pm. It had taken me 12 minutes to get to the store. Then it had taken me 37 minutes to get back to my house again. Then it had taken me a few minutes to get the money from the house. The time now was 4:51 pm. 

As I walked out of the building, wind once again came in contact with me. But this time it was much stronger. I had to run just to turn the corner. I lifted the cart and ran, but as I reached the end of the street, I was met with an obstacle. The traffic light had just changed color to stop pedestrians from passing and let cars through. I forced myself to look at the time: 4:55 pm. After a minute, I was allowed to pass the street. But when I reached Western Beef, I was met with a locked door. 

Since I did not want to tell my mother that I did not get the groceries, I tried to figure out the nearest grocery store. When I was about to look at Google Maps, I realized that I still had my MetroCard with me. Before online classes, the trains had been my primary mode of transportation to school and as a result, I was given a metro card. The MetroCard had entitled me to free transport on trains and buses as a student. Even as classes were not physical anymore, the card was still valid till January 31, 2021. 

Using this to my advantage, I opened my phone and looked at the nearest grocery store that was easily accessible through a bus or a train. After a fair amount of research, I chose a Trader’s Joe store on the 72nd street. The shop was very close to a bus stop and was just about a mile away from my current location. I hurried to the nearest bus stop I could find. The bus arrived at my stop and I boarded it. It was about 40 feet long and was covered in white paint with the MTA logo. The front left of the bus contained a booth where the driver was seated. The bus also contained two doors, one for entering and the other for exiting. 

When I got off the bus, I thanked the driver and made sure I had left nothing behind. The street was filled with people going along their own business. Once again, as far as the eye could see everybody was wearing the mask. I made my way to the store, my feet falling in rhythm on the cement pavement. 

The store was brightly lit and neatly organized and labeled. I unlocked my phone and found the list of grocery items to buy. I had to buy 1 milk jug, a lot of vegetables, yogurt, spices and snacks. To get the hardest part completed first, I headed over to the section named “Vegetables and Fruit”. There was a plastic bag dispenser at the end of the row that helped people gather and sort quantities of whatever item the consumer needed. Eventually, all the groceries that I needed to buy in this section of the store were gathered. The rest of the items were quickly added to my cart. 

Dragging the (now full) cart behind me, I headed to the Check-Out. I placed my items on the mini conveyor belt where the Cashier scanned it and added it to my bill. After I paid the money, I placed my items back into the cart. I let out a sigh of relief now that I had finished an important task. “Well, now that this is done, I can FINALLY go relax at home!” I stated in excitement.