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This Kent teen grocery shops for her family. It's an anxiety-ridden experience

Marian Mohamed

July 27, 2020 / 12:59 pm

caption: Marian Mohamed: "Here I am carrying multiple bags of groceries back home from Fred Meyers in Kent, Washington, before heading inside my house to put them away."

RadioActive’s Marian Mohamed is 18 years old and lives in Kent, Washington. She’s the oldest of five children, and does most of the grocery shopping for her family. Grocery shopping used to be a simple task for Marian, but now a trip to the grocery store poses a threat of exposure to Covid-19.

Marian documented her shopping trips during the pandemic, and how the groceries she buys are used in her family’s home, for KUOW.

caption: This is the mask I wear before heading out to my local grocery store. As I pull on my mask I remind myself to stay six feet from other grocery shoppers and to wear my gloves.

caption: My mom, Mulki Mohamed, wears her mask as she drives me to the grocery store. As she makes a right turn she tells me what we need from the grocery store and to not touch my face when I’m in the store.

caption: When I first saw the empty shelves, it scared me. We had run out of gloves and my mom rushed me to the only store we knew that carried gloves. However, I was met with an empty shelf and left the store with no gloves. I wondered how I would protect myself.

caption: The ‘Please Wait’ signs are plastered on the floors of each of the eleven checkout stands in the store.

caption: The uncomfortable feeling of my gloves sticking to my hands happens every time I leave the grocery store and finally enter the car. My anxiety really gets to me to the point where I’m sweating from my hands and the tightness in my chest when I walk through the grocery store.

caption: The first time I saw my mom, Mulki Mohamed, wash the milk jug, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. But she gave me a detailed explanation of why it’s important to wash the milk jug, as other people may have touched the milk with their own gloves. It’s now become a routine after buying milk.

caption: The milk jug isn’t the only thing being cleaned. My mom, Mulki Mohamed, uses a paper towel and a bottle of bleach to wipe down each plastic container.

caption: My little sister, Sihaam Ismail, was adamant on carrying the milk from the car and to the kitchen. It’s moments like this when I begin to worry if I may have been exposed to the virus, maybe from interacting with the cashier, or touching a product in the store, and I fear that by coming back home and helping my family with the groceries that I’ve exposed them to the virus.

caption: I come back home sweaty and exhausted as my mask hangs from my ear. I try my best to collect myself before I rush to take a shower and to help wash and put away the groceries. My job isn’t over.

caption: By the time everything is wiped down or washed, my mom, Mulki Mohamed, can use the food to cook lunch.

caption: My mom, Mulki Mohamed, calls out each of my siblings' names to tell them the food is ready as she sets out the rice and meat. The produce and stuff that I buy from the grocery store is used everyday in the kitchen. My worry and fear of exposing my siblings and mom to the virus from just coming back from the grocery store disappears.

This photo essay was created by advanced participants of KUOW's RadioActive program for young people, with production support from Lila Lakehart. Edited by Isolde Raftery.

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Support for KUOW's RadioActive comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center.

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