Work was strange today. At one point we needed three people doing returns because the line was suddenly, randomly, that long. Then I wound up with no real assigned register or job, so I wandered around the front end restocking displays. I got to see lots of things I don't normally notice because I'm too busy.

There were customers quietly trying to decide if they could get away with one large dehumidifier, or if they needed to spend the extra money to get two small. Customers comparing labels on the different mold control products to try to figure out which one would save their hardwood floors. Coworkers lost in thought in a quiet pause between customers, mentally mapping out the steps they had to take to gut and rebuild their own homes.

People are still buying flashlights. They're still buying batteries in bulk - and I wish you could see just how much people's eyes light up when someone wheels a pallet of D batteries up to the front, after a week of us being out. Cleaning supplies are flying off the shelves. I kind of wish the gloves and proper safety masks were too, because I don't like thinking about people breathing in all that mold and paint dust and who-knows-what-else when tearing up carpet and ripping out drywall. But I can't force people to buy them. Best I could do was to stick some in the empty spots in the cleaning display.