Gratitude

To the extent there is anything good to be said of the trying times we all find ourselves in, it is that I am reminded how grateful I am for things that, in better times, are easily taken for granted: 

• the nurses, care attendants, technicians, aids, first responders, doctors, and countless other skilled and unskilled workers that care for the sick, injured, and infirmed;

• the farm hands, growers, and producers of everything from garden seeds and starter plants to all the things I eat and drink, as well as the transporters, warehouse workers, cooks, preparers, packagers, and grocery store personnel who make that food accessible and keep us nourished and healthy; and

• our neighbors and our community members who have stepped up to help people who must, for a variety of reasons, completely shut themselves off from the world to protect themselves or others.

Although I know intellectually that I am contributing in the most important way that I, being neither a health care worker nor a food provider, can – which is to stay home and not become a vector for COVID19 – I still can’t help but feel useless. Rather than wallow in my useless feelings, I am writing this blog post to express my unending gratitude to the entity and its people who are reliably present in my day to day life, taking care of me and my family: Spiral.

Here are just a few of the measures that our General Manager, Matt Malecha, has implemented to ensure that all of us stay as safe as possible while also getting the products we need to stay healthy and fed:

• Every 30 minutes, commonly touched items are cleaned, including door handles, credit card machines, and carts;

• Protective barriers have been hung to limit exposure between cashiers and customers during checkout;

• Tape marks on the floor provide a visual aid to help everyone remain six feet or more apart from each other; 

• Anyone can phone in ((651) 437-2667) or use Spiral’s website to submit an online grocery order and Spiral will load it for you right into your car, eliminating virtually any person-to-person interactions.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Matt and every Spiral staff member for the MILLION things you are doing to ensure that all of us have the food and supplements that we depend upon! P.S. – Since I wrote the first draft of this blog post, I’ve taught myself to use a sewing machine (previously only used by my mother when she visited me) and sewn cloth masks for family and friends. If you bump into me on one of my very few excursions to the Co-op, you may see me wearing it. I admit, I feel silly wearing a mask in public, but I figure if I do it, it will help more and more people become accustomed to doing it and pretty soon it won’t feel or seem so weird. I guess this is another small thing that “the rest of us” can do to show our unending GRATITUDE for our medical and food professionals by doing all we can to keep them healthy and reduce the spread of COVID19.