Returning To Trader Joe’s & Experiencing Pandemic PTSD Two Years To The Day Of My Last Visit

The Mint Chip Mama - Returning to Trader Joe's Post Pandemic

Today found me returning to Trader Joe’s for the first time in two years. Literally two years. The last time I walked their aisles was March 9, 2020.

I used to go weekly.

Later that day in 2020 – while standing in our cul-de-sac as my kids played – I received an email that the far away coronavirus we heard about had infiltrated our school district and school was closing for two weeks.

As all the moms texted like chickens without heads, we wondered what would come.

March 10, 2020 – not knowing what to do – I took my two older kids (my youngest’s nursery school was still open) to the New York Botanical Garden’s Orchid Show. I finally got tickets after years of wanting to go, because now all three of my kids were in school full time. Oh, the foreshadowing irony

The Mint Chip Mama - Trader Joe's
2014

What Happened Next

Three days passed.

Then the shit hit the fan.

You were there, I won’t get into it. We can fast forward two years of masks, vaccines, debates, death, testing, long term complications, loss, anguish, ups, downs, fights, hugs, tears, judgement, and a lot of wine.

The Mint Chip Mama - returning to Trader Joe's Post Pandemic
2016

Fast Forward

And here I am, March 9th, 2022 at the same Trader Joe’s.

It’s not that we haven’t gotten food from Trader Joe’s in two years, or that I haven’t been to a store in two years. It’s just that my husband – who formerly commuted to Manhattan and now commutes to our kitchen – has done the shopping.

The Mint Chip Mama - returning to Trader Joe's Post Pandemic
2018

Returning To Trader Joe’s

He began going because I was too scared to go, and he is a gallant knight.

Then, I believe it became a reasonable escape for him to leave our loony bin for a bit.

Ultimately, I believe it became part of the rote responsibilities which he absorbed.  

It’s not that I couldn’t or wouldn’t go. It’s just that I didn’t go.

The Mint Chip Mama - returning to Trader Joe's Post Pandemic
March 2022

So I Walked In.

It was crazy that after two full years my body simply returned to auto pilot.

I walked through the seemingly same aisles that I walked pre-pandemic when life was normal. I looked at all the food that I used to purchase and picked things up like I was there last week.

In front of me it was the same with the same employees who I chatted with countless times about life.

I looked for the frozen mini tacos that I used to quickly make before running my three kids – alone – to whatever pre-pandemic activity they did in 2020. They were not there.

I saw the fish sticks and smiled.

I thought of a time that these pre-cooked simple meals saved my sanity. My mind wandered to what life was like before.

2018

Before

These humble meals have since been usurped by the beautiful lavish dinners my husband cooks every night (which I appreciate), but it made me miss fish sticks. It made me think I used to do it all alone, and now I don’t.

Suddenly, I found myself sobbing by the “Everything But The Elote” seasoning.

Nothing there had changed.

But everything had changed.

The Mint Chip Mama - returning to Trader Joe's Post Pandemic

After

If you know me, you know how much I love Trader Joe’s and that it’s one of my happy places. I don’t know if I was crying at the normalcy of it or the loss of everything else.

Or the feeling that two full years passed, and it didn’t feel like a second had gone by.

I’m quite positive one of the reasons it felt normal was the multitude of maskless people (New York lifted the indoor mask mandate) in front of me. However, many were still in masks.

I don’t know if this made it an easier pill to swallow or a validation of a time portal.

The Mint Chip Mama - returning to Trader Joe's Post Pandemic

Returning to Trader Joe’s Post Pandemic: It Was The Same But Different

Like many others, my phone has gotten me through the last two years by experiencing life through a screen. Some of my favorite Instagram accounts are Trader Joe’s fan sites.

Funny enough I made genuine human connections with some of these people and had nice memories flood through as I passed items we discussed, sometimes more than grown adults should discuss food.

My thoughts then turned to how many nameless, faceless connections I’ve made in the last two years through social media united by the common love of food or Legos.

My shopping was done and it was time to leave. This was a deep shopping trip.

Returning to Trader Joe’s Auto Pilot

As I did hundreds of times, I told the cashier I brought my own bags and would pack as she beeped. We moved into our choreographed dance that was dark for the last 730 days. Somehow my Tetris-like packing had not falterer.

Auto pilot.

Two years.

Wow.

The theater is back.

Tomorrow is the two-year anniversary of receiving that email while cluelessly standing outside with my kids.

Two years.

The Mint Chip Mama - returning to Trader Joe's Post Pandemic

Two years.

Two years.

It has been a crazy two years. While I don’t want to debate personal beliefs, I feel that I can say that with confidence, and you can agree.

But this was an unexpected reaction. This reaction was filled with all the stress of the last two years, all the tears, all the fights, all the saying “no” to my kids, and everything else we have endured. I also acknowledge that many had an astronomically harder time and lost much more than me.

I know that many people have moved “back to normal” (I fucking hate that phrase) at a faster rate than me – and I’m OK with that – but I was not prepared for today.

I was not expecting such an emotional reaction to grocery shopping.

Maybe it hit me so hard because the store was the same, but I was different. Similarly, to when you come home after your first semester of college and see your home life through your new adult eyes and it feels kinda weird.

I don’t know.

But there was solace in the normalcy of Trader Joe’s. Nevertheless, I noticed one remarkable change. The sample café and coffee station – once a favorite spot – was now a contactless wine display.

Laughing to myself I said – now that is one hilarious metaphor.

The Mint Chip Mama - New York Botanical Garden Orchid Show 2020
The New York Botanical Garden‘s Orchid Show
March 10, 2020

Published by Stacey Wallenstein

Stacey Gish Wallenstein created The Mint Chip Mama blog in 2013 to share her love and passion for giving children meaningful life experiences and helping moms like her navigate the challenges and benefits of raising children in the New York metropolitan area. Before becoming a full-time mom in 2010, Stacey spent the better part of the preceding decade as a high-end customer relationship management (CRM) professional for some of the most well-known brands in the hotel, luxury, fashion, and beauty industries, such as Harrah’s Entertainment, Chanel and Christian Dior, Inc. She managed customer loyalty programs for thousands of clients around the country and created social media strategies for a span of industries including healthcare services, restaurants, consumer packaged goods, specialty foods, local attractions and retail locations. After 13 wonderful years in Manhattan (the last three of which spent as a city mom), Stacey and her husband moved to Long Island in 2014, where they now reside with their three children (13, 10, and 7). There, she is a founding member of her local Parenting Center, which provides classes and coordinates events designed to educate and inform parents while fostering an environment of support and friendship within the community. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Stacey has been active in the New York area alumni organization for nearly twenty years, serving as a board member on the school’s University of Michigan Alumni Club of New York City. She also holds a Masters in Psychology from The New School in New York City. Please check out The Mint Chip Mama in the Press: The New York Post, Psychology Today, NY Metro Parents, New York Family, Parents Magazine, Newsday, News 12, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: Kids, NerdWallet, Big Apple Kids Guide, and more! The Mint Chip Mama was also nominated as "The Best Blog On Long Island" for 2022, 2023, 2024, one of the Top 20 New York Mom Blogs & Websites, and one of the Top 100 Mom Lifestyle Blogs on the web! For more updates, follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Pinterest.

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