“No, there will be no food shortage in France”. Members of the government repeat it over and over. However, in supermarkets, it’s the rush. This Monday afternoon, in order to manage flows, and avoid bottlenecks at the checkouts, a supermarket located in the Toulouse suburbs was forced to limit the entry of consumers.
3.30 p.m. this Monday afternoon. In the hall of the shopping center in Balma, the image of the treadmills that lead to the underground parking lot sums it up. In the downward direction, Toulousains push carts filled to the brim. In the other, customers hang around empty shopping bags. All stores are closed due to coronavirus. Except for the supermarket.
Read also :
Coronavirus: Christophe Castaner speaks, “we are at war”, says Emmanuel Macron, 148 dead in France
At the entrance, the security personnel monitor the coming alleys. Passed the gates, a wagon noria crosses, crosses over, and sometimes collides. “Go ahead there!” “If you had listened to the media well, you would know that there is no risk of a shortage!” Some dare to be mutiny, to speak to each other. Others look away from other customers. Mask on the nose, gloved hands, they push their cart with one hand and peel a shopping list as long as the arm with the other. Amine is one of them. “Supermarkets are the best place to catch death.” This father of three continues: “It’s been a while that we say to my wife that it is necessary to make big races. And with the measures of containment which are looming … We argued, and it I came! ” In his cart, there is enough to hold a month (and a receipt estimated at more than 200 €): canned food, compotes for children, hygiene products, etc. “The pasta department, I’ve been there, there’s nothing left!”
“With the risk of confinement, people rushed”
The shelves of staple foods have been robbed. No more flour, rice, fresh meat, feminine hygiene products.
In supermarkets, some shelves have been taken over.
– DDM – DDM
–
Store staff do their best to restock the stalls. In the water department, it drips from packs. Ouahida plans to take ten. “I have kidney problems, I can’t drink tap water. I’m also going to take milk for the kids.” But no grain. Plus the shadow of a chocolate puffed rice petal around here.
In the central aisle, it swarms. To make you dizzy. At first glance, nearly a thousand customers are agitated. Elizete seems a little disoriented. Behind her mask and under her pink cap, she doesn’t know where to turn. On its (long) list, each line is checked once the item has been placed in the cart. “I do my shopping and that of a diabetic friend, her doctor advised her to stay at her house. I have been there for 2 hours, and I have only done half of the shopping. It lacks a little organization. With the risk of confinement, people rushed … “
To leave the crowd, you have to go to the clothing or gardening departments. Almost deserts. Martine and Marie-José stroll around a bit. The two sisters take the coronavirus epidemic seriously but refuse to panic. In their bag: a flowerpot. He will be joined by coffee, yogurt, toilet paper. “A few things we need. We only take what we need. They say the supermarkets will be restocked, we want to believe them.”
More than 2 hours of waiting before going to the checkout
A few meters from them, a line of carts is at a standstill. Meters in line before seeing the boxes.
If some customers wallow behind their masks, their noses riveted on their phones, others argue. “After two hours of patience, we are making friends!” these four ladies are having fun. Each advances its reasons for being there.
Nicole, born in 1940, wanted to be sure she had enough food for her cat. She is surprised: “I had never seen that … And I did not expect to see it! It is maddening. Especially since there is a moment when it will get better. The people who did reserves will be forced to eat everything. It will slow the recovery of the economy that … “Pascale, 60, is AVS in schools, and therefore unemployed. At these feet, a kraft paper bag filled with a few products. Barely ten articles. “I don’t understand people’s reaction. I’m taking it as usual. There are too many people. Next time, too bad, I will choose to go to the convenience store next to my house, even if it means pay a little more. ” Right behind her, two girlfriends, including Célia, a six-month-old mother. “Diapers, I always buy them in batches. I also have a little stock of breast milk. But really I don’t care. For children, we will always find.”
Security screens supermarket entrances
Warm, almost at the height of the box these “girlfriends” of a day put into perspective. But outside the supermarket, the atmosphere is quite different. For about thirty minutes, the store has decided to let customers in only drop by drop. The objective: to avoid the massive concentration of people on the shelves. 25 people enter every quarter of an hour. Pregnant women have passes. Some are annoyed.
This Monday afternoon, the entries were filtered in a supermarket in the Toulouse suburbs. A tail has formed outside.
– DDM – DDM
–
Leila and her daughter Sarah have been in the rain for almost 45 minutes. “We didn’t expect that … It’s a bit of a hassle, admits the mother. This morning I was at the butcher’s shop in Bagatelle, there was nothing left … People were doing the queue at the cash machine! ” She continues: “Saturday I did not go shopping because I was afraid of the world, Sunday I went to vote, and there, I only want to do my provisions for the week”. She concludes, philosopher: “If we ever reach the shortage – which I doubt – I hope that the people who have been shopping for four months will help those who need it when they knock on their door …”
–
:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/6efa4438-67bc-11ea-9181-0217670beecd.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)