I went out to our local fruit and vegetable store yesterday. I’m not infectious anymore, and since the last time I shopped was almost two weeks ago, the fridge was pretty bare.

Still, having had the flu so recently, I went from self-isolation into temporary social distancing, remaining hyper-aware of everything going on around me.

The fruit and veg store is only two and a half blocks from our house and there’s a route through the back alleys. I walked there without seeing anyone except a dog walker at a distance.

When I neared the store, which is on the corner of a main street, I pulled out the medical mask I’d got at the doctor’s office. I hate it. It gets so humid in there that I start coughing, and I didn’t want to cough in the store and worry people.

Nor did I want to breathe in disease. The street was fairly busy. There wasn’t a crowd, but it wasn’t deserted, either.

Going into the store, I found it well stocked, and as usual they had good-looking produce. The two people working there were both wearing masks and blue plastic gloves, although I noticed the man took off his mask when he went into the back room to sort produce, probably hating it, too. 

Both of them looked worried. Who knows if they’re at elevated risk for some invisible reason. But the man is in his early forties and the young woman behind the cash is in her late teens, probably his daughter. Odds are they’ll be okay if they get sick. They might not even notice. But I’m sure they’re worried about their business, which no doubt gets by on a small margin.

Actually, the store was pretty busy, at least yesterday. There were always three or four people inside at the same time as me, no one masked or gloved, all of them fairly young and no one buying more than a few things at a time, scanty collections of produce in their red plastic carriers. I kept away from them, but the store is small and they didn’t seem much bothered by me, despite the mask, and kept bumping into my back. 

Not wanting to leave our house very often, I stocked up fruits and veg that will last: carrots, parsnips, cauliflower, fennel, brussels sprouts, onions, apples, oranges, pears, melons (knocking them, for once, to make sure that they’re unripe) along with things like avocados, plantains and papayas that will last well enough and some things for right now, including a bunch of tomatoes to make sauce, which freezes well.

I also bought a pomegranate, remembering a cab ride I took a few months ago, the driver telling me that Canadian doctors don’t know what they’re talking about, being too closely allied with the drug companies. Doctors in Islamic countries are the ones who can read the studies with unbiased eyes, he said. This let them prescribe proper nutrition, which in his extended telling sounded like the advice given by doctors of whatever background to eat a Mediterranean-style diet, not much red meat but lots of fish, fruits, veg and pulses.

Also pomegranates, the driver said. The best medical advice is to eat pomegranate seeds with your breakfast every morning.

Do it, he insisted, as I paid my fare.

The driver was serious about his beliefs, but I hope he’s following the advice of Canadian doctors right now (many of whom are Muslim), especially if he’s still driving cab. And has any fares.

At the fruit-and-veg cash, the daughter looked warily at me from behind her mask as I looked warily back. She was glad I wasn’t offering bills but could tap my debit card blamelessly on the reader, and I made sure not to touch the reader as I did.

Then it was back through the alleys, where the aftermath of the flu reared its head as I carried two heavy bags and a lighter one. I kept having to stop and rest, which I never have to do. I saw how rundown I’ve been left, and no doubt how vulnerable to a case of COVID-19.

At home, here was my unanswered question, despite googling: Can the virus live on fruits and vegetables long enough to be passed on if you handle them? It was a cool that day so I’d worn gloves out of the house. Once I saw the store owner remove his mask, I kept them on in the store. Now I put on a pair of rubber gloves to unpack my groceries. 

Afterward, I probably went into overkill. I wiped down my leather gloves with disinfectant, then washed whatever fruits and veg I could with soapy water and soaked the others in a combination of water and vinegar. That was tiring too, and probably unnecessary, but both the shopping and disinfecting only cost me an hour before I collapsed.

Since then, my niece has texted from her house three blocks away kindly offering to do our shopping. We’ve also got my son across the city and my brother living ten minutes away, but not everyone has generous support like that. 

I wish I could help people who need it. But at the moment we seem to be the ones needing help, and that’s something else to get used to.

On top of everything else.