Set the scene where you are ...

[goldengirlz]

Brought to you from the first metro area to enact shelter in place.

Tell me about your corner of the country. Are things business as usual or are you living under restrictions? If business as usual, are people voluntarily staying home?

I’m in the ‘burbs, so the biggest things I’ve noticed are:

1) Decreased foot traffic and shuttered businesses downtown
2) Greater police presence
3) Lots of groups of two walking around our typically sleepy neighborhood or hanging out in their driveways — people we’ve never seen before (H: Who are all these randos?? Me: I don’t think they’re randos; I think they live here 😂)

[pinkdutchtulips]

SIP in effect ... SF Bay Area

everyone is inside and most restaurants are doing curbside delivery. i haven't noticed a greater police presence ..... yet.

[MixedBerryJam]

Alexandria VA. We are encouraged but not required to stay home. Nights in my very high traffic area are very very quiet, spookily so. Days are definitely quieter but not to the same degree. Foot traffic in my building is increased actually since everyone is here now during the day. So getting the primo parking spot, which I usually got while everyone was at work and I got home at midday, is much harder now! But outside people are definitely respectng the 6’ rule. I’ve only been in stores one day this week but that was 3 stores in one day and i felt like people were breathing down my neck. People outside are definitely making more eye contact, and greeting each other more. My daily diet is shot all to hell.

[macmars45]

Seattle area. No shelter in place although there should be one.

I haven't left my condo/TH complex neighborhood except to donate N95 masks to my local hospital in a week (we weren't hoarding...H bought them a year ago). All my neighbors are out in their family units walking dogs, watching the kids play. My DS (will turn 4 next month) is so sad he can't play with any of them. Most people seem to be keeping their distance although I've had to remind two neighbors who invited my DS to play with their kids that no, he can't play. I have seem so many more neighbors than usual, that I know for sure.
H has been our errand runner (grocery, meds/food for our cat).

[happywife]

I'm in Orange County, CA. Idk what we're officially under but basically SIP, essentials only. Just ventured out for groceries. Local Target is still completely out of TP, disinfectant cleaners, hand sanitizer. They're low on canned foods, bread, etc. The store was not very packed which is good. Plenty of space for social distancing and people seemed to grab their essentials and go. About a third to half of people out are wearing masks. Traffic is eerily light, there are definitely less people out. I felt somewhat normal driving since we've been homebound for a week.

[joy]

I’m in Philly.

Only essential businesses open. People walking in the streets and definitely out in the more picturesque/exercise areas, like the paths along the rivers.

We aren’t required to be home (yet), just strongly encouraged.

Lots of art projects in windows.

[goldengirlz]

Oh, yeah, our supermarkets have been a bit sad lately. You can’t get basic things like boxed Mac n’ cheese, chicken nuggets or English muffins. Trader Joe’s is stocked but has only been letting in a certain number of people at a time so lines outside are long. I wasn’t nervous about food before because we’re stocked for a month, but I don’t think we’re stocked for 3+ months ...

[mags]

NJ here about 25 miles south of NYC

WE are only allowed out for essentials. All stores are out of cleaners, paper towels, toilet paper, most meats, diapers and wipes. Restaurants can do curbside pick up only. Public transit is for essential workers only. Traffic is lighter but way too heavy imo. There are still fools around who do not believe what's happening and are deniers.

Hospitals do not have tests or enough supplies for staff.

People have me more worried than the actually virus because of their ignorance!

[So_Fetch]

Sacramento. We are sheltered in place except for grocery/food pick up and essential services. It's definitely quieter outside. Less traffic, less people in general. Stores aren't super crazy and everyone is really trying to keep the social distancing. At the grocery store there was a worker walking around spraying and wiping door handles on the refrigerator and freezer cases, which was nice to see.

I work for the govt in essential services (environmental protection) and have been working from home since Wednesday. Also, I can't stop eating.

[notsocreepylurker]

Katy, TX here (outside Houston). Grocery stores still have limited supplies/stock on hand. I haven't noticed anyone outside more but I haven't been outside much either. I just went and got pizza to go to support the local pizza joint and there was a lot of cars on the road (in my opinion). I am not sure how seriously people are taking it here.

[mandymay]

Mar 21, 2020 15:50:51 GMT -5 happywife said:

I'm in Orange County, CA. Idk what we're officially under but basically SIP, essentials only. Just ventured out for groceries. Local Target is still completely out of TP, disinfectant cleaners, hand sanitizer. They're low on canned foods, bread, etc. The store was not very packed which is good. Plenty of space for social distancing and people seemed to grab their essentials and go. About a third to half of people out are wearing masks. Traffic is eerily light, there are definitely less people out. I felt somewhat normal driving since we've been homebound for a week.

I’m in OC too. All of CA is under Stay at Home or Shelter in Place. It’s essentially the same thing. We’ve seen toilet paper at Costco in Cypress, although we’ve heard there’s none in south county. Trader Joe’s on Tustin St and Meats was pretty well stocked with most things, including chicken and eggs, earlier this week. We didn’t check for tp there.

Traffic has been ridiculously light, which my husband appreciated when he had to go to work earlier this week. He’s working from home now though. Seeing empty shelves at stores is very surreal. It’s definitely helped me to waste food less and be more inventive in meal ideas! I figure the less often we go to the store the better.

[isabel]

Suburb of Denver, CO: All non-essential business has been shut down, including things like well visits for doctors/dentists, all dine-in eating, etc. I went out yesterday to drop off two packages at the UPS store (brought a lysol wipe with me and wiped down the door handle before I walked in, touched nothing else, and the store clerk backed away so I could set my packages down for him to take). There were people around at the grocery store and waiting to pick up food at the restaurants offering take-out, but far less traffic than normal. People are utilizing grocery pick up because I had to wait until yesterday morning for them to open up time slots for Monday and then snag one before they were snatched up. I usually have no problem getting a same day time slot. We've seen lots more foot traffic in our neighborhood with people going on family walks and walking their dogs. I have been really disappointed to see families with young kids at the playgrounds though. I feel like people "get" what's going on and are trying, but they're also rationalizing doing stupid things like that.

I have to go into my office next Wednesday to return my laptop and pick up all my personal stuff from my desk. It will be interesting to see how the highways are. I haven't been on them since late last week, but it's basically always a total shit show.

While we're not at shelter-in-place level yet, I have a lot of confidence in Governor Polis and the actions he's taken thus far. I think he's doing an admirable job trying to handle a really shitty situation.

[mrsukyankee]

Not in US: London, England. People are idiots - still doing social gatherings, not focusing on social distancing, complaining about thing closing. Major supermarkets are struggling to keep up with demand. Our gov't finally closed schools, pubs/bars and restaurants (unless they do take-away items, then they can sell) on Friday, but they haven't closed anything else down or pushed the shelter-in place or anything else. Many companies have been encouraged to allow working from home (Both my H and I are working from home).

Positively, neighbourhood support groups have begun. My neighbourhood did a 9pm clap for the NHS event. It was nice and we all waved from the front of our homes/driveways to each other. I just moved in a few weeks ago so I don't know hardly anyone but it felt good.

[circa1978]

St. Louis - the city and county are sheltering in place as of 5. I think people are mostly taking things seriously - out of the diagnosed cases, our first death was a nurse and we have 2 ER doctors diagnosed.

We hadn't been out of the house in eight days but I did go very briefly into Whole Foods because I've been trying to order meat online and no one has been able to deliver it and the stores were out last week. They are limiting what people can buy so I was able to get hamburger and steak and won't have to go out again for a while. Everyone stood 6-8 feet apart, except this one Boomer asshole who kept inching closer to me in the butcher line and finally asked me if I was in line. I was like, I am but we are all practicing social distancing (there were two people at six-foot intervals in front of me) and that asshole rolled his eyes at me. Like, excuse me, sir, the city and county are locking down because of idiots like you.

[beerlover]

Small town in Central PA, south of Penn State University. Schools were shut down for 2 weeks on March 13, although I'm sure that will be extended. Liquor stores were closed Tuesday night and all restaurants have been take-out only since early this week. All other non life-sustaining businesses were ordered to shut down Thursday night(interesting tidbit, beer distributors count as life-sustaining). The governor put out a list of what is considered life-sustaining. There are no confirmed cases in my county yet, but there was just one in a neighboring county yesterday, so it's a matter of time. People seem to mostly be staying in. I go for frequent walks, so I've seen lots of people out doing that, which is great. Groceries stores aren't empty, but seem to have limited stock of things.

I'm guessing we'll be sheltering in place soon...what are other PA people's thoughts?

[arehopsveggies]

I don’t like putting my exact location but small rural town in the southwest.

No cases here yet

Stores are packed. More than thanksgiving week. All public places shut down, library schools gyms etc. Restaurants switching to takeout. Most people my age seem to be slightly distancing but I don’t think many are taking it very seriously yet.

I did venture out today to grab some kid activities and small treats to make up for my kid’s cancelled birthday party. Soup, flour , beans, and toilet paper were gone but I was able to get most of what I needed

[VillainV]

Panhandle of Florida. Many people are doing social distancing but many aren’t taking it seriously. People are still losing their minds at the grocery store. School is out until Mid-April at the earliest.

People are fighting about whether the beaches should be closed — many neighboring counties have closed beaches because Spring Breakers are congregating en masse, but closing the beaches means more economic hardship....Which means all the tourists are now flocking here because out beaches are still open, and they are even MORE crowded. It’s kind of a mess. I hope they make the decision to close them.

[nsl]

Mid-sized city in Southwest Georgia.

Bars, hair salons/barbershops/massage parlors/etc... all shut down as of midnight last night. Restaurants on take-out only as of this morning. Traffic is noticeably lighter, and lots more people have been out on walks (like, whole families instead of solo walkers or joggers) on our street for the last few days. I had to go to Petsmart today to pick up cat food, and the shared Michael's/Target/Petsmart/Dollar Tree lot was maybe half as full as it would be on a normal Saturday afternoon. Most people were practicing social distancing, though one mid-20s dude just walked right through the entrance as I was exiting like everything was normal.

Schools are closed until the first week of April right now, but could obviously be closed much longer. My H is the only one who's gone to the grocery store since last weekend, and he says that the shelves are pretty bare of canned goods and you can't find chicken--fresh or frozen--for love or money, but at least there was toilet paper on the shelves as of yesterday.

People here could definitely be doing better, but I think it could also be much worse. This is major Trump country, and even last Wednesday/Thursday many of my colleagues weren't taking this very seriously yet. Shutting down the schools made it much more real for a lot of people, I think.

[RoxMonster]

I'm in IL. We just went under shelter-in-place a couple hours ago lasting until April 7. Non-essential businesses must close, and you should only leave home for work (if you still have to report to work) or to get food or medicine or other essential items. Restaurants are still allowed to be open for drive-thru or curbside.

I left the house today to pick up some prescriptions in the Walgreens drive-thru. I do think fewer people were out on the roads and that was before the official shelter-in-place began.

We took our dog for a walk at a park today where we can easily distance from people (our local parks are still open; state parks are closed) and there were a lot of people out (distanced from each other) taking walks and riding bikes.

[klee23]

Mar 21, 2020 17:20:19 GMT -5 beerlover said:

I'm guessing we'll be sheltering in place soon...what are other PA people's thoughts?

Western PA/PGH suburbs. Sooner rather than later. After Thursdays "non-life sustaining" shutdown I would have sworn it would be by the end of the weekend. Then came the announcement that enforcement had been pushed back until Monday to give time to process waivers.

I appreciate Wolf making the tough calls that common sense would imply but he's getting a lot of push back. Last Sunday when he announced closures several State House Republicans made FB posts/FB lives to assure the constituency that Wold could only suggest and not mandate retail closure (dine in, bars, salons, etc were all that were enforceable initially). Then the local newspaper published an article yesterday with a headline stating that experts say Wolf's mandate could do more harm than good. Article... not editorial 😤 Finally, the behemoth of a health system here is refusing to cancel elective surgeries despite it explicitly being mandated in the order.

I think Wolf is going to make sure all I's are dotted and T's crossed before announcing.

[InBetweenDays]

Seattle - no shelter in place but I expect one soon.

I've gone on walks and runs in our neighborhood and there are many people out and about but keeping a distance. Although I heard last night there were tons of people at the nearby beach.

Went for a hike with H and the kids in the mountains yesterday. Saw people on the trail but again everyone moved aside when passing.

Grocery store last time I went was fairly well stocked. I was able to get everything on my list.

Mostly we've been home bound, jumping on the trampoline, working, "school", and home projects.

Edited to add: yes, all restaurants and bars are closed (takeout only), all playgrounds are closed and parks/playfields are open as long as people obey social distancing. So no pickup games, no gatherings, etc.

[wildrice]

Baltimore. I don't know what you'd call it, but we're not quite at shelter in place level yet. Still, most non-essential stores are closed, all restaurants and bars are carryout only, and schools are closed. The governor has pushed for all state workers who can work from home to do so, and urged other businesses to do the same.

We went out today for a drive and there were cars out, but not as many as normal. We got curbside beer pickup and takeout from a local restaurant. We were the only customers at the food place, last time I went there for lunch on a Saturday it was packed. We did drive through an area that typically has a lot of people loitering around in groups (Lexington market area, if anyone is familiar) and we were startled to see that so many people were still doing that. There were probably at least 100 people just hanging around hanging out. I think a lot of drugs are sold in that area so I'm not sure if that's what they were up to or not.

So far I've left the house about every 3-4 days but I'm nervous doing so. We don't have any outdoor space at our apartment though and my anxiety is high by the end of the day - it's making me feel kind of claustrophobic knowing I'm stuck here and can't leave. Technically I can, but honestly roaming the streets where I live makes me nervous when there aren't a lot of people around, and I'd never do it in the dark. For at least the next 2 weeks (and last week too) I have to go to work for a couple of hours on Wednesdays to do new employee orientation, so I'll at least get out that frequently I guess.

I went to Trader Joes last Wednesday and they were stocked ok. Out of a lot of shredded/sliced cheese and TP, but they had everything else I was looking for, albeit a little less of it than usual. I keep hearing about places being out of meat so I'm a little worried about that if we have to do this long term. That and TP.

[raangoli]

Mar 21, 2020 15:57:57 GMT -5 mags said:

NJ here about 25 miles south of NYC

WE are only allowed out for essentials. All stores are out of cleaners, paper towels, toilet paper, most meats, diapers and wipes. Restaurants can do curbside pick up only. Public transit is for essential workers only. Traffic is lighter but way too heavy imo. There are still fools around who do not believe what's happening and are deniers.

Hospitals do not have tests or enough supplies for staff.

People have me more worried than the actually virus because of their ignorance!

I’ll co-sign this. I’ve also seen so many people out walking which is nice. But when people stop to chat they’re not keeping the distance they should or I’ve seen families having play dates outdoors. They don’t get it.

[mags]

Mar 21, 2020 20:09:48 GMT -5 raangoli said:

Mar 21, 2020 15:57:57 GMT -5 mags said:

NJ here about 25 miles south of NYC

WE are only allowed out for essentials. All stores are out of cleaners, paper towels, toilet paper, most meats, diapers and wipes. Restaurants can do curbside pick up only. Public transit is for essential workers only. Traffic is lighter but way too heavy imo. There are still fools around who do not believe what's happening and are deniers.

Hospitals do not have tests or enough supplies for staff.

People have me more worried than the actually virus because of their ignorance!

I’ll co-sign this. I’ve also seen so many people out walking which is nice. But when people stop to chat they’re not keeping the distance they should or I’ve seen families having play dates outdoors. They don’t get it.

My asshole next-door neighbor has company over. And to make it worse as one girl walked out she giggled and said have fun at your quarantine party!

[cinnamoncox0]

In Ma. Haven’t left the house since Saturday. I work at high school so I’m currently paid off and the two younger ones are home too until 4/6
As of now.

I will be surprised is they don’t extent to after April break but who knows.
Dh works essential worker so he will go back this week and take every possible precaution. He is with public but they are working on ways to limit this drastically but keep business moving.

I am an anxious person so I went through the rabbit hole freak out like a month or more ago and am now just like cool cool whatever happens happens.

Restaurants closed take out only. Grocery delivery is about 5 days out but dh was able to get plenty of stuff today in store.

I’m an introvert who’s been basically training for this for the past 40 years so I’m ready :/

[puppyluv]

San Diego: the grocery stores all vary in what they have. Between 2 stores yesterday, I found everything we wanted except french onion dip. Lots of produce, limits on meat and canned goods but still some on shelves. Restaurants are all doing take out and offering alcohol to go. All food places are open so I was surprised to see ice cream places and other smaller places with lines.

We went for a bike ride on the bay/beach path today. Lots of people out either relaxing or exercising. Mostly all small groups staying at least 10’ ft away from other groups except on the path and the volleyball courts. The number of people playing volleyball was a bit concerning. But I didn’t see anyone coughing and no scooters which was strange for around here.

[cereal K]

Mar 21, 2020 16:49:49 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

St. Louis 

I forget - are you in STL county or SCC? 

We’re in St. Charles, which is the county/suburb right next to St. Louis. We’re not SIP, and I think we should be. Cases are racking up around here. Last week was Spring Break, so kids were already off, but now school is closed until 4/6.H had to go into work for most of last week to get his team set up for remote working. He shouldn’t have to venture out much more in the coming weeks. In the last week, I’ve been out minimally (groceries twice, food pick up once). I’ve been using Instacart and Door Dash quite a bit. 

Since we’re on a cul-de-sac tucked back into a large-fish neighborhood, traffic is minimal by us anyway. Once a day, for about an hour, it feels like ALLLL the kids on the block come out and try to run off some energy. (There are about 25 elementary-aged kids on our street alone.) I have very mixed feelings about letting my kids out with them.

ETA: I ran out today to do a curbside pick up and it felt like there were WAAAAY to many people out driving and in parking lots.

[raangoli]

Mar 21, 2020 20:18:48 GMT -5 mags said:

Mar 21, 2020 20:09:48 GMT -5 raangoli said:

I’ll co-sign this. I’ve also seen so many people out walking which is nice. But when people stop to chat they’re not keeping the distance they should or I’ve seen families having play dates outdoors. They don’t get it.

My asshole next-door neighbor has company over. And to make it worse as one girl walked out she giggled and said have fun at your quarantine party!

Rage!! 🤬

[circa1978]

cereal K , we're in west county. DS goes to a private school and I don't think we're going back this year. I think I might have been wrong about the SIP/stay at home order - it might start Monday? It's in effect for 30 days, though, so, yeah.

ETA: I somewhat hope our school might offer some sessions over the summer but who knows if that's even possible. 

It's been weird here for a while though. The grocery stores have been empty for at least two weeks. My particular area leans on the older side - unfortunately, that is also true for the doctors who live in three out of the four neighboring houses. They are still going to work and I'm worried about them. Our other neighbor is a retired widower in his 70s. We're going to leave notes on all their doors tomorrow asking them to let us help where we can. My H is significantly older than me, a cancer survivor and only has part of one kidney and I'm not that eager for him to go out either, so it's all me.

[HRH Queen Dick I, Orphan]