Since I have MS I have been using grocery pickup and delivery for more than a year now. Walking the isles is more exhausting than it used to be so these services save me some brain power and pain that I desperately need.

Since COVID-19, getting my orders fulfilled has become increasingly more difficult. When I get an order for 5 pm most of my items are out of stock because customers before me have either gotten them all or the “normal” people have raided all of the shelves. This is so frustrating. How I am supposed to feed my kids when I can’t go into the store to shop and by the time I get my pickup order everything is gone?

I have learned that if I wake up at 3:30 in the morning (that’s right I have to set my alarm to wake up in the middle of the night) I can get a spot in the morning 4 days from the date of the order. FOUR days! As an example, Wednesday I woke up at 3:30, my cart already filled and ready to go so I got to the part where I get to pick my pick up time. Wednesday at 3:30 in the freaking morning there were no spots Wednesday, 7 pm Thursday and 5 pm Friday or I could get an 8 am on Saturday. So I set my pick up for Saturday, and now I have to hope the shelves get stocked before my pick up time and that since the hours before hand are for seniors that with a little luck my order will be filled. I started waking up in the middle of the night to do this when I had an order for about $400 in groceries and only $130 was filled because everything else was out of stock.

I have also used Amazon Fresh for groceries from Amazon of Whole Foods and Amazon Prime Now, I can no longer. There are never any spots available.

I realize this is not something the average person takes into consideration. That is why I am writing this post. We are at increased risk for everything with the meds we take but we need groceries and house staples just like everyone else. It is a scary time in our history but maybe you will think of us the next time you go to purchase a mass quantity of something that other people need.