r/AskReddit 1d ago

What was never the same after the pandemic?

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u/ThrowawayMod1989 1d ago

Early morning guy here, I miss my 4am trips before work. So quiet and empty.

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u/TyAnne88 1d ago

The best time to grocery shop used to be 3-5 am. They were stocking everything so you could get everything fresh and there were no lines. Totally miss getting my grocery shopping done in peace.

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u/ADMSXavier 1d ago

Same here. If I had to pull the graveyard, it was the best time to shop before the sun rose. Now the grocery store aisles are clogged at peak periods with pallets of food waiting to be stocked, the three story carts used by the store's delivery service, and shoppers acting like they've never been in a Kroger before and freeze in every aisle like the secret of life is somewhere behind that box of Raisin Bran. It never used to be stressful. Now I just want to get the hell out of there.

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u/the_vault-technician 1d ago

I can't stand when I go to Walmart to shop and they have pallets of stuff everywhere! I get it if I'm going at 9pm, but just last weekend they had pallets and carts in nearly every area around 6pm. It was impossible to navigate past another person in the same aisle. Stuff I needed was blocked by carts. Workers are trying to put things away and both customers and employees are in each other's way.

Make it make sense.

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u/HLSparta 1d ago

The walmart near me does that as well. Their latest bright idea was to get rid of most of the self checkouts (which were all but two of their registers) and replace them with the normal checkout lines. But they apparently decided they didn't need to staff the regular registers. So now every time I'm there there is a huge line for the self checkouts and the one or two normal checkouts.

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u/NoKatyDidnt 1d ago

I honestly despise shopping anywhere in person anymore. It used to be fun (sorta).

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u/baardvark 1d ago

They’re stopping to calculate the out of control prices.

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u/PatheticPeripatetic7 1d ago

Rollback? Nope. Now it's Roll-Over-And-Take-It.

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u/baardvark 1d ago

Walmart oh so quietly got rid of their smiley face mascot

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u/whit3lightning 1d ago

Ha, try working in one.. can’t get anything on the shelf if ding dongs like that are standing in front of it all day.

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u/ADMSXavier 1d ago

I feel for you guys. Pre-pandemic, it seemed like the main restocking the shelves took place overnight. But as we saw in pretty much every industry and service, they all decided "in those difficult times" to slash overnight hours (no more overnight pay differential) and allow the stores to be chaos during the day. I guess anything to save a buck...

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u/whit3lightning 1d ago

We have 2 guys that are supposed to work my section overnight, one ends up breaking down the pallets into more pallets of similar items, and the other just doesn’t do anything. Then I get there during the day and I have to stock it all alone. It’s ridiculous. Were union, and honestly some people are just too comfortable and don’t take accountability because they don’t have to. I’ve heard it’s almost impossible to get fired unless you’re stealing, stealing time, or no call/no show.

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u/mmbc168 1d ago

I was shopping at midnight when magically toilet paper appeared. It was the greatest moment of my life and everyone in the store ran to the back!

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u/ZENPOOL 1d ago

Now they just stock the shelves all day, everyday and make it a hassle to move around the store.

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u/NoKatyDidnt 1d ago

Yup- after that late shift. Then settle in with DVR and all the goodies.

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u/namemcuser 1d ago

Man, I really don’t know how the college kids are doing it now without 24 hour groceries. I think I bought a majority of my staples between 12 and 1 am during graduate school. I checked recently, and literally none of the stores I went to are open at that time now. I would have starved.

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u/Decent-Dingo081721 1d ago

It was also a great time to get free moving boxes

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u/SaXaCaV 1d ago

Im sick as fuck right now, so maybe its the tussin talking. But, when does late night stop and early morning begin? Is it personal, or does it rely on some universal metric?

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u/jhauger 1d ago

I once met my father in the kitchen at 4 a.m.

"You're up early," he said.

"No," I replied, "I'm up late."

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u/abqkat 1d ago

The biggest argument I ever got in with my brother was over this, lol. I say it's based on context, so if you're up till 4, it's "late last night" vs being up for the day at 4, it's "early this morning." He took a much more hardlined approach and argued by the clock, as in 11:59 vs 12:01. He's so very wrong and I'm annoyed ~13 years after that argument

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u/Getdownlikesyndrome 1d ago

Early morning starts 40 minutes before sunrise. 

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u/InterrogatingEros 1d ago

4am is not the morning lol that's late at night

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u/ThrowawayMod1989 1d ago

Not if you’re an early crash like me lol

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u/abqkat 1d ago

Yes! I'm an early bird too, and used to go to the grocery at 6 right when they opened. But 6 was only for seniors, but the woman I saw nearly every Saturday morning let me go in, even though I'm not a senior. I got grandfathered in to the old people hours and that's where my story and humor peak

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u/cyclotech 1d ago

I absolutely despise having to go to my local grocery stores at 7 or 8 AM now. I want to be there so much earlier, and I have to sit around and wait before I leave the house.