Jake Hardy takes a look at how covid has changed even the simplest of things: his shopping
It was a strange experience entering Lidl for the first time during the lockdown. What normally was a fairly peaceful atmosphere, had become more tense and felt more like a rush to buy your food and leave. Certain shelves were completely bare, which was concerning for me, as everything was normally fully stocked. I couldn’t even get something as simple as pasta. It really felt like something out of an apocalyptic film! On a positive note though, I did discover a bunch of random Lidl branded soup – it was actually really nice. Clearly people had left it thinking it wasn’t worth buying… well they were wrong!
There were large see through screens in-between each of the self-service checkouts. I quite liked them actually. It kind of gave it more privacy. They were there to prevent customers from getting too close, and were a very good idea. It was quite small though, so you’d need to try and be careful as not to bump into the walls around you. I bought my food and then left the building. Nothing had changed too much really though, aside from people taking everything!
It felt so empty when walking back from the shop though. Normally the streets had a fair few people in them, but now, there was little sign of life. It was eerie, and a strange thing to experience. I guess on the positive side, there were fewer people to get in the way! Unfortunately, as time has gone on, the streets and shops would begin to get busier and busier as lockdowns come and go. The first few weeks of the pandemic were something I will never forget though, and have now been ingrained in my memory.

Luckily, masks have always been worn by myself, and all of those around me, whenever I have been in the supermarket. I’ve seen numerous news articles about people not wearing masks though, and protesting the lockdowns as a whole. Fortunately, I’ve not seen anything like that near me, although I don’t know whether it will become more popular as time goes on, and people become more irritated by the various lockdowns, tiers, and restrictions. I think it’s important to end this article by repeating an important and simple phrase: stay home, protect the NHS, and save lives.