COVID-19 Chronicles

Leisure World residents are living in historic times as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds around the world. Residents are welcome to share their experiences, observations, opinions and insight with their friends and neighbors in this occasional column. The deadline is Thursday for the following week’s publication. Email submissions to Ruth Osborn at rutho_news@lwsb.com. Submissions are subject to editing for clarity and brevity.

Home Deliveries in the Time of COVID-19

by Joan Rose

LW contributor

A couple of months ago, when we found out that us oldsters would be locked down in our homes due to the pandemic, I asked my daughter to go grocery shopping for me because I knew I was not supposed to do it. She went a few times and wore a mask, but I was always worried that she would meet someone who would not be wearing a mask and who would perhaps cough in her face and give her the virus.

One day we found out that a few local companies had solved that problem for us by offering their services. They would do our grocery shopping for us and not only that, they would deliver our groceries right to our homes! Amazing!

Using the Internet, I contacted a company I’ll call “WeDeliver. com” and set up my account. The first couple of times I ordered, I was unsure of its website and found it difficult to find the groceries I wanted and to even understand their website. I have some knowledge of the Internet, but I am no computer whiz, and I found that while ordering from this company, I would often get lost in the many choices I had to make. I got very confused. So, my daughter and I thought it would be easier if she ordered my groceries for me from her computer at home, and this is what we did. Now I simply e-mail my grocery list to her every week, and she places my order for me. It has worked out great.

Having the groceries delivered to me every week from WeDeliver has been interesting. There is a new shopper every week, and when he/she starts to shop for my groceries, this person texts me so that I can follow the shopper’s progress. If there are substitutions to be made, the shopper texts me to let me know of the substitution and to get my approval. In an hour or so, I get a text letting me know that the shopping is done, and that the shopper will arrive at my house shortly.

The shopper, who wears a mask, parks on the street and then rushes to my door with my groceries. The sacks are placed on my porch, and then the shopper runs quickly away. I usually stand just inside my screen door and watch for the shopper, so that I know when my groceries arrive.

A few weeks ago, I was waiting for the delivery when Jose (the shopper) texted me and said he could not get into Leisure World. I had to call the gate to let him in, and I thought it was strange that he did not have a pass, when the other shoppers who had come to my door all had passes.

Presently, Jose (who was not wearing a mask and whose name I changed) placed the bags on my porch and started to run away, but then I saw a large bag of tortilla chips nestled in one of the grocery bags. Now, you have to understand that my teeth are old and not used to crunching on tortilla chips. I called Jose back and told him that I never ordered the tortilla chips. He came back, grabbed the bag of tortilla chips and disappeared.

I brought the grocery sacks into my house using a cart, and started to put away my groceries. It was then that I realized that Jose had left another surprise for me when I saw a carton of Almond Milk in one of the bags. (Who knew that you could milk almonds?) At any rate, I hadn’t ordered it, and so I set it aside. Later, I realized that the seal had been broken on the carton and someone had been drinking the contents. Probably Jose. So I threw it out.

My daughter contacted the company, and we got credit for the tortilla chips and the almond milk, so no harm was done, but it was a strange experience. I thought about lodging a complaint against this shopper, but then I thought perhaps this was his first delivery, and he was just learning. Jobs are hard to come by right now, so all I did was to hope fervently that he never shopped for me again.

So far, I’ve been lucky. Most of the shoppers that I have had are always courteous and speedy— and always wear their masks. It is so nice to have someone shop for me, since I am getting on in years, and it has been getting harder for me to make that trip to the grocery store every week. When the pandemic ends, I think I will continue with this wonderful service.

Another great service we all enjoy here in Leisure World is from the Leisure World Pharmacy. I simply call them to order my prescriptions and anything else I would like and they deliver it to my door within a day or so. I have a check ready for them when they deliver my package and best of all, the delivery is always free of charge.

When you are talking about home deliveries, you can’t beat the giantcompany,Amazon. Ithinkyoucouldordermostanything from them and they will deliver it to your door within a couple of days. I have ordered a Kindle, printer ink, a video chat machine Echo), clothing, writing pads, copy paper, a vacuum cleaner, books, a baby toy for my new great-grandchild, a dish drainer, a beautiful frame, a magnifying glass and many other things. I order clothes either through Amazon or through clothing catalogs, and I have not actually gone shopping outside my house for anything in months. Do you realize that soon we will not ever have to leave the house for anything? No wonder retail stores have been going bankrupt and malls are empty.

Always willing to broaden my horizons, I am now learning how to navigate my video chat machine. The reason I bought it was that Leisure World doctors have been asking if I could video chat with them instead of going into their offices. During the pandemic, this makes sense, but this way of meeting with doctors may be a permanent fixture in our lives. Simple check-ups with a doctor may all soon be done by phone or video phone.

Since I bought my machine, I have chatted with my daughter and my granddaughter via video phone, and I have to say it is wonderful. On the video phone, you obviously don’t need to wear a mask to talk to other people. While I was talking to my daughter and she was laughing and joking with me, the thought occurred to me that it is amazing how much you miss facial expressions when you are talking to someone who is wearing a mask.

Since I had zero knowledge about this new-fangled machine, I ordered a book through Amazon called “Alexa for Dummies.” The entity called Alexa dominates and is the brains behind video chat machines and many other Amazon products, and you can’t make a move without her.

You say you have never met Alexa? Let me tell you, she is a genie but she does not live in a bottle. She is an A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), resides in the Echo machine and other Amazon products, and she is at your beck and call. She talks soothingly to you, performs tasks, answers questions and does just about everything but give you a massage and a pedicure. I think she is going to be riding the wave of the future.