Covid-19 in OKC (coronavirus)

[snark0leptic]

Please delete, dealt with local politicians and mask mandates.

[dankrutka]

Oklahoma had over 100 deaths reported in the last two days. How will communities grieve?

[C_M_25]

Looking at how things are spreading and considering how many states are reporting the presence of that UK variant, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it is spreading here as well. Anybody sign up in the vaccine portal yet?

[Bill Robertson]

Looking at how things are spreading and considering how many states are reporting the presence of that UK variant, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it is spreading here as well. Anybody sign up in the vaccine portal yet?

There's quite a but of portal discussion on the COVID Vaccine thread.

[Pete]

5,323 (!) new cases today, an all-time high. 7-day rolling average 3,504 slightly off an all-time high.

31 more deaths; 7-day rolling average 25.1.

Hospitilizations are 1,961 (-26); all-time high is 1994.

ICU is 477 (-12); all-time high is 501.

[Pete]

BTW, 4,100 U.S. deaths were reported yesterday, the highest ever.


Please be careful for the next couple of months at least.

We are very close to getting through this and we shouldn't lose our focus with light starting to shine at the end of the tunnel.

[TheTravellers]

BTW, 4,100 U.S. deaths were reported yesterday, the highest ever.


Please be careful for the next couple of months at least.

We are very close to getting through this and we shouldn't lose our focus with light starting to shine at the end of the tunnel.

Can't wait to go to Homeland today and ask/tell so many of the other customers to follow the f*cking arrows on the floor... Last 4 times I've been there, 75% of the people are oblivious to them, they either need to enforce it (yeah, right) or pull them up, I get tired of being the only one that says anything to the idjits that can't see the 3 yellow arrows on the floor in each aisle or the signs all around the store asking them to follow them. Makes me wonder how they drive if they can't see the signs in the store...

[Bill Robertson]

Can't wait to go to Homeland today and ask/tell so many of the other customers to follow the f*cking arrows on the floor... Last 4 times I've been there, 75% of the people are oblivious to them, they either need to enforce it (yeah, right) or pull them up, I get tired of being the only one that says anything to the idjits that can't see the 3 yellow arrows on the floor in each aisle or the signs all around the store asking them to follow them. Makes me wonder how they drive if they can't see the signs in the store...

I hear ya! I don't bother to say anything because it's a waste of time. They should just take the arrows up. I don't really have any problem avoiding other people with or without the arrows. Worst thing are the people that park halfway down an aisle for ten minutes deciding on A, B or C.

[BDP]

Can't wait to go to Homeland today and ask/tell so many of the other customers to follow the f*cking arrows on the floor...

They need traffic spikes. ha.

Honestly, it'd actually be nice, in theory, to have the aisles be one way all the time regardless of the pandemic, especially at the one on 16th.

[TheTravellers]

I hear ya! I don't bother to say anything because it's a waste of time. They should just take the arrows up. I don't really have any problem avoiding other people with or without the arrows. Worst thing are the people that park halfway down an aisle for ten minutes deciding on A, B or C.

Or wander around talking on their phones. I guess at least they all have their masks on...

Actually, most of the ones I mention it to say "Oh yeah, sorry, didn't notice" , but I have had maskholes (and yes, there are still *tons* of people not wearing them properly) ask if I'm the police, and I just flip them off and walk on.

[TheTravellers]

They need traffic spikes. ha.

Honestly, it'd actually be nice, in theory, to have the aisles be one way all the time regardless of the pandemic, especially at the one on 16th.

Or maybe just an employee asking people to go the right way in between their temp checks for the freezers/fridges. But yeah, traffic spikes would be OK with me, lol...

Forgot to mention that the one on 16th (I think it's 18th, actually) is the one I was referring to, and their aisles are actually not bad compared to some other stores - they don't have nearly as many bumpout displays in the aisles that bottleneck things as soooo many other stores do.

[Urbanized]

...Honestly, it'd actually be nice, in theory, to have the aisles be one way all the time regardless of the pandemic, especially at the one on 16th.

Fun fact: when Sylvan Goldman introduced his new invention - the shopping cart - at his Piggly Wiggly stores he configured the aisles in such a way that you were absolutely required to walk up/down each and every aisle in one direction, end to end. You'd get a cart at the front, enter the first aisle, go to the end, take a jog around an end cap, then back in the opposite direction up the next aisle and so on.

I've been told that the first location for this was the one which now houses Lyric Theater in Plaza District. I suspect it was deemed to be too restrictive and today of course it would not pass fire code.

[TheTravellers]

Fun fact: when Sylvan Goldman introduced his new invention - the very shopping cart - at his Piggly Wiggly stores he configured the aisles in such a way that you were absolutely required to walk up/down each and every aisle in one direction, end to end. You'd get a cart at the front, enter the first aisle, go to the end, take a jog around an end cap, then back in the opposite direction up the next aisle and so on.

I've been told that the first location for this was the one which now houses Lyric Theater in Plaza District. I suspect it was deemed to be too restrictive and today of course it would not pass fire code.

Cool, knew about the shopping cart, but not the aisles! Wonder if there are any pics or diagrams of that, would be interesting to see the design that would actually force people to do that...

[Urbanized]

I have seen pictures of it in the past. the aisles were incredibly tight also. Probably to keep traffic moving.

Another interesting fact was that when he first introduced them nobody would use them. People were used to carry baskets, so that's what they used. In fact the prototype grocery basket was two carry baskets mounted to a folding chair with wheels screwed onto the bottom. The problem with carry baskets was that people stopped shopping once it got heavy. The shopping cart allowed them to buy more stuff without thinking about it.

So anyway, the way he managed to get people to use them was genius. He figured out that mostly people were insecure about being SEEN pushing the basket around. So he hired attractive, well-dressed young women to come and pretend they were shopping, while happily using carts. Problem solved. Because in the end, people are cattle. Sorry, that last part took a dark turn!

[Urbanized]

I'll try to find a picture of the aisles but while looking I found this article on Mental Floss that goes into a bit more depth regarding what I posted above.

...Sylvan Goldman had a problem. As was customary for grocery stores in 1936, his Standard/Piggly Wiggly locations in Oklahoma City supplied shoppers with a small wooden or wire basket for them to carry as they wandered up and down the aisles. Once the basket got too heavy, though, customers headed for the check-out line, a situation Goldman wanted to avoid. To keep them buying, Goldman was determined to figure out a way to make heavy baskets more manageable.

One night, he happened to look at a wooden folding chair and inspiration struck.

He placed one shopping basket on the seat and another under the chair, then envisioned wheels on the legs, and a handle on the back. He was on to something. It took a few months of tinkering, but Goldman eventually settled on a design that was convenient and flexible. To use a cart, you took a folded-up frame from a row of them stacked side-by-side. In their folded form, they were only about 5” wide, so storage space was minimal — a factor Goldman knew would come into play for his invention to be accepted in other stores. Once unfolded, the shopper would grab two baskets and place them in two holders on the frame - one above and one below. When they were done shopping, the check-out girl simply put both baskets on the counter and rang everything up.

Unfortunately, the big debut of his big invention was a great big flop. Despite having a pretty young woman at the entrance to help customers set up the carts, the only people interested in using them were the elderly. Men were too proud to admit they needed help carrying a basket, and some younger women said they had pushed enough baby buggies that they weren't going to use one for shopping, too. Distraught, Goldman hatched another plan – he hired attractive men and women to push carts around inside the store and pretend to shop. When real customers came through the doors and refused the cart, the young woman at the entrance looked back into the store and said, “Why? Everyone else is using them.” Never underestimate the power of peer pressure.

By 1940, only three years after they were introduced, carts had become so popular, entire grocery stores were being designed around them with wider aisles and larger check-out counters to hold all the food people were buying...

[catch22]

Glad to see you back. By the way, how large is your brain? You are a treasure trove of knowledge -- I always click on any post I see of yours. Cheers, happy new year!

[Urbanized]

Haha thanks. Mostly I'm just a repository of useless information. Think Cliff Clavin.

[catch22]

Haha thanks. Mostly I'm just a repository of useless information. Think Cliff Clavin.

Was this an intentional reference since I said Cheers in my post?

[Libbymin]

Can't wait to go to Homeland today and ask/tell so many of the other customers to follow the f*cking arrows on the floor... Last 4 times I've been there, 75% of the people are oblivious to them, they either need to enforce it (yeah, right) or pull them up, I get tired of being the only one that says anything to the idjits that can't see the 3 yellow arrows on the floor in each aisle or the signs all around the store asking them to follow them. Makes me wonder how they drive if they can't see the signs in the store...

I see people behind their meat counters working with masks below their nose all the time, so yeah, I don't see them enforcing the arrows any time soon.

[BDP]

I'll try to find a picture of the aisles but while looking I found this article on Mental Floss that goes into a bit more depth regarding what I posted above.

So, basically, we should have just hired models to wear face masks around back in march, and we wouldn't be in this mess.

Or, maybe, in this case, WWE stars?

[Bellaboo]

Can't wait to go to Homeland today and ask/tell so many of the other customers to follow the f*cking arrows on the floor... Last 4 times I've been there, 75% of the people are oblivious to them, they either need to enforce it (yeah, right) or pull them up, I get tired of being the only one that says anything to the idjits that can't see the 3 yellow arrows on the floor in each aisle or the signs all around the store asking them to follow them. Makes me wonder how they drive if they can't see the signs in the store...

I stopped going to stores with narrow aisles. Also, we go either at 11:45 at night or 6:30 in the morning. It's like we're the only ones there.

And if there happens to be a maskless knucklehead, I go the other way.

[Pete]

^

This is why I love Sam's.

Huge aisles and you don't even have to use their great self checkout; you can do it all on your phone through Scan & Go.

I realize they don't have everything but I make it work; rarely go anywhere else and I live alone. It's been a godsend during this time.

[Urbanized]

So, basically, we should have just hired models to wear face masks around back in march, and we wouldn't be in this mess.

Or, maybe, in this case, WWE stars?

Sure! Or...hear me out...public officials.

[Bill Robertson]

I stopped going to stores with narrow aisles. Also, we go either at 11:45 at night or 6:30 in the morning. It's like we're the only ones there.

And if there happens to be a maskless knucklehead, I go the other way.

Aisles are an enigma. (I hope I used that right) The Homeland on Britton & May had very wide aisles. The Homeland at 122nd & Rockwell has narrower aisles. The May store is bigger than the 122nd store in sq ft. But the 122nd store has more product/selection because there's more shelf capacity and less open floorspace. And I shop both stores so I'm absolutely certain of this.

[Pete]

Sure! Or...hear me out...public officials.

That's crazy talk.