We can’t help but speculate about how we’ll be different when we finally emerge from this nightmare.
Surely, some traditions such as the handshake will fade away. And good riddance to European-style cheek kissing.
How will food shopping change? We’re witnessing the transition already. In the future, we’ll likely see:
- More online ordering. Will this mean further encroachment of Amazon and its grocery subsidiary, Whole Foods? It seems inevitable.
- More self-checkout. Before the coronavirus, I criticized this technology as a job killer. I now believe that unmanned checkout lanes save lives.
- More robots. CNN reports that stores are using robots to scrub floors, restock shelves, do inventory and deliver groceries.
- Fewer taste tests. We all loved stabbing toothpicks into platters of hors d’oevres we would never make at home. Savor your memories. They’re a thing of the past.
- More prepackaging, less self-serve. Ultimately, more mini-packages. I haven’t had a Wegmans bagel (I know, there are better bagels to be had) since the store began prepackaging. I don’t want six bagels. I want one bagel.
- Wider aisles. It has always seemed to me, though I never got around to measuring, that aisles were wider at Wegmans than at many stores. It may not seem that way now, because of the hordes. But new construction will undoubtedly call for room for social distance. Which means higher real estate and construction costs. Which means higher food prices. A cheaper alternative would be one-way aisles, which some stores have already implemented.
- Resurgence of the well-stocked home pantry. I learned about the importance of shelf-stable items when I lived in a remote location, miles from the nearest grocery. Many folks are experiencing the same now. They’re also wishing that had put aside a supply of hand sanitizers, pain relievers and thermometer batteries. Although urban apartments don’t have the storage space of suburban homes, shoppers everywhere have realized the importance of having the staples.
- More cooks. The sporadic supply of prepared foods and frozen fruits and vegetables has driven many shoppers to (horrors!) the produce section. I hope, though I can’t be sure, that many people who previously relied on the freezers have learned that fresh foods are cheaper and tastier. The flood of recipes posted on social media suggests that we might see a new generation of chefs.
That’s not quite a silver lining. There is no silver lining to COVID-19. But maybe it’s a slim ray of light in the stormclouds.