Jose Mier compiles items of interest to the Sun Valley, CA community.
Jose Mier and Sun Valley’s New Normal
A recent outing to Costco near my Sun Valley home was revealing. I could have probably told you everything I found out without leaving the confines of my home, but actually experiencing it confirmed my suspicions. The “new normal” for us is rather depressing.
My trip to Costco (the retailer of choice during the coronavirus) began as an afterthought following some other errands I was running. I arrived at about 10:25 am—later than Costco’s usual opening hour of 10 am. I thought that since I didn’t need the “essentials” like toilet paper that arriving later than usual would be no problem and that (foolish, I know) I’d be able to walk right into the store. Not quite.
The store was not yet open for the general public, perhaps due to the “senior hour” that Costco has to let senior citizens into the store first. In any case, I wasn’t able to walk right is and had to join a line which, if straight, would have circled around the entire circumference of Costco. The new line system our Costco has in place is a series of traffic pylons creating a makeshift turnstile.
This was new to me and I debated whether I should stay in line or leave, but the line did begin moving after about only 5 minutes of waiting.
What I noticed, though, about my fellow shoppers was a decidedly hushed and depressed mood. Everyone including myself was wearing a mask and no one was very happy. We moved through the line in relative silence, waiting for our turn to enter the building. It struck me that this is part of our new normal now. We are resigned to waiting in lines, grateful for the ability to do our shopping and buy what we need (even if some items are no longer available). We are a resigned and depressed people. It reminds me of stories I heard from the old Soviet Union (or even today’s Venezuela). My experience at Costco is hardly unique and there are many reports of people becoming depressed as a result of all these COVID restrictions
Jose Mier: Will Sun Valley Rebound?
Let us hope that we completely reopen soon so that our collective psyche rebounds and we can start smiling again. If this shutdown and the attendant hassles teach us anything, perhaps it’s that we were (and still are) lucky to be living in this country and that we should appreciate things all the more once this current situation is behind us.