The Beauty of Curbside Pickup

First off, hello and WELCOME back to my blog!! This will be my FIRST blog post in 2021! Can you even? Hard to believe we are in a brand new shiny year! Meanwhile, I do have some news to share on the blogging front and that is 21 in 21!!! I’M SO EXCITED!!

What is 21 in 21 you ask? Why, ask and you shall receive!

21 in 21 is a collaborative publishing project by me, Meredith Silverman and Mr. Husband, Matthew D. Futter! Throughout 2021, we will each publish blogs on a series of 21 things we look forward to being different this year. They might be epic. They might be ordinary. Heck, they might be giants! No wait, that’s a band. But they will be interesting, regardless.

So without further ado, onto my first entry into our 21 in 21 blog project, The Beauty of Curbside Pickup.

Let’s face it, during this pandemic it’s been hard to find the beauty in pretty well…anything. I mean, think about it. What has 2020 been about? Sickness. Job loss. Death. Homelessness. Food Insecurity. A terrible presidential administration (but NOT ANYMORE AS OF YESTERDAY-WOO!). I could go on and on, but like I said, it’s been pretty hard to find the beauty in pretty much…anything.

Enter curbside pickup. THIS is DEFINITELY something I have found the beauty of during the last year and something that I definitely hope sticks around post-pandemic in 2021. Why? Well, let’s break down the pre-pandemic shopping experience for someone like me that existed BEFORE the gloriousness that is contact-less curbside pickup.

Breaking Down the Shopping Experience

As an introvert, I have NEVER been a fan of going to the store pre-pandemic. Well, that’s not entirely true. In the past, I did enjoy the odd Target run, but I had to be in the mood. But to be perfectly honest, I have a pretty extreme dislike for in-person shopping in general, OUTSIDE of the fact there’s a pandemic going on. Why? Well, let me break it down for you.

FIRST of all, I’d have to make sure I looked halfway decent because God knows trying to roll into the store with bedhead and no makeup means I’m guaranteed to run into someone I hate. This means taking a shower, doing hair and makeup (but not too much makeup lest I look like I’m trying too hard). For anyone with a chronic illness, this is exhausting.

SECOND of all, if I haven’t made a list, then I’ve got to then make a list so a., I can remember what it is I’m there for and b., I don’t forget anything while I’m there. THEN I have remember to actually bring the list WITH me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten halfway to the store and then turned around because I forgot the damn list! This is stressful!

THIRD of all, once I’ve gotten my stressed-out shit together, I have to DRIVE to the store, find a parking space that’s ideally NOT seventeen miles away, gather up all my things and make sure I haven’t forgotten something in the car. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made a mad dash back to my car in the past because I forgot my damn phone! UGH!

FOURTH of all, I’ve got to find the shopping cart that doesn’t have the wonky wheel and there’s a fifty-fifty chance I’m gonna find it anyway. So then chances are I’m gonna be THAT person trying to make the shopping cart stop being an asshole & roll smoothly because it’s the only one left. Lucky me. Spoiler? The wonky wheel NEVER works right.

FINALLY, victoriously, I’ve entered the store! At this point, I’m looking good! I feel like a champion! I even managed to get a smooth rolling cart or better yet, lucked out into finding a hand-basket. I’ve prepared half my day for this! Joe Esposito’s You’re The Best Around from the Karate Kid soundtrack is playing on my internal iPod. I’m pumped! I’m ready! THIS IS SPARTA! Let the GAMES BEGIN! And then…

THEY’RE OUT OF WHAT I NEED.

Beauty’s Where You Find It

So needless to say, a trip to the grocery store or ANY store is nothing short of exhausting and annoying for me. Even a successful shopping trip was exhausting, but it was especially draining AND infuriating when I had to drop in to a crowded store for literally ONE or two things only to find out they were out of exactly the things I needed. Oh my sweet little baby Jesus, you want to talk about mad?

And I mean to say it NEVER failed; what was supposed to be a pleasant twenty minute trip would turn into two and a half hours because I then would have to trek to three different stores to find the one or two things I was looking for. By the time I got home I would invariably have regressed to a cranky toddler and be more than ready for a nap! Ask my husband, he’s seen it happen.

But then came along CURBSIDE PICKUP. Holy cow, what a beautiful invention. Can I just tell you how purely amazing it is to go online, order what I need because I can see right then and there if they have whatever it is in stock, place my order, and then sit back and wait for the email proclaiming my order is ready?!?!

Then, comes the even more if not MOST amazing part-I let them know I’m on my way, right? Then I just pull up to Target into the DESIGNATED PARKING SPACE, show them my phone, and the nice Target associate (or PetSmart or pretty much anyplace these days except the grocery store) will kindly put my parcel in my trunk and off I go with my goodies! I don’t even have to get out of my CAR! I DON’T HAVE TO TALK TO ANYONE (other than to say “thank you” of course)! That alone pretty much makes me delirious with joy.

In a time where pretty much everything sucks, it is a wonderful thing to find beauty in a process that seems to be a complete win-win for society in general. To be perfectly honest I was prepared for my curbside-pickup experience to be a complete clusterf*ck, but instead I found the whole process to be RIDICULOUSLY delightful and I can DEFINITELY say it takes about 95% of the stress out of my shopping excursions. So needless to say, when a half hour round-trip does NOT turn into a four hour Hunger-Games style journey, and a chronically ill introvert can conserve energy in the process, that is pretty darn stupendous.

And THAT, my friends, is the beauty of curbside pickup, at least for me. Anything that helps lower my blood pressure during these extremely stressful and scary times is a win in my book. Heck, I’ll be so daring as to say that curbside pickup, especially CONTACT-LESS curbside pickup, is a gloriously beautiful thing for ANYONE to behold!

So, I am definitely looking forward to and desperately hoping that curbside pickup will continue to be a thing in 2021. Why? Let me count the ways; it is amazingly convenient, it keeps people employed, and honestly, anything that lets me have less contact with people in general is a glorious thing all on its own. So remember, kids, beauty is where you find it, but these days, you might just have to be a little creative in where you look.

I hope you enjoyed this first blog post of our husband-and-wife collaborative 21 in 21 blog project! Please stay tuned for the next entry, coming soon!

Thanks for reading,
Meredith Silverman