Crowds

I went to U Village this afternoon to run some errands. 

It was crazy.

I went to the Apple store to pick up some stuff and there were TONS of people there. I had ordered what I needed over the phone and it was waiting for me in the store when I got there. Earlier in the day, I had spent an hour on the phone with the sales rep, Chris from Texas, who was very sweet. We talked about seasonal allergies and he told me about his Navage nasal irrigation system. (Who knew such a thing existed?) I was kind of annoyed that Apple directed me to a phone rep instead of encouraging me to walk around the Apple store and see the stuff in person, play around with it and all. I wanted to play with the feel of the keyboards and see the screens and stuff. Sure, they have picture of the stuff online, but I wanted to touch it before I bought it.

When I got to the store, I was grateful I had bought the stuff I needed over the phone instead of waiting for a rep at the store. On the phone, I had Chris' undivided attention. The store, on the other hand, was chaos, packed with people. Except for the masks, you wouldn't know there was a pandemic. 

Since the pandemic, I've been to restaurants, movies, and the ballet. I've flown a dozen times. It is not like I've been living like a perfect hermit. Yet, this was the first time I was in the middle of a crowd.

I had been to the Apple store sometime in the pandemic (September 2020 maybe?) after I dropped my phone and it smashed to bits. I had to have an appointment to get in. Outside, there were security people letting a few people in at a time. When I finally got in, the place was empty except for a few workers in the front of the store at desks behind plexiglass taking orders. They wanted me in and out there as soon as possible. No browsing or asking questions. They assumed I knew what I wanted when I walked in.

This experience was different. Anyone could walk in. Everyone was wearing masks but there was no social distancing or limit to the number of people inside. People were poking around, hanging out. There was no five minute limit.

I was a little freaked out and overwhelmed at the experience, not because I was afraid of getting covid, but because I hadn't seen a crowd like that in a store since before the pandemic. It was weird being around so many people like that at once and I wasn't used to it. It was like I had agoraphobia, but I didn't have it flying or at the ballet. I think the difference was the Apple store felt busy in a hectic or unorganized way, unlike the ballet or airports. 

This was the first place I had been that seemed fully back to pre-pandemic normal, and it was odd.