# Self-Quarantine Etiquette **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2020, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236 "2020-03-10T23:54:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/1 "2020-03-10T23:54:52Z")
I work in NYC and commute to the suburbs, so I’m guessing that I’ll be exposed to CV at some point in the near future, so will need to self-quarantine. I swear that half my meetings are now about pandemic preparedness. Anyway, I feel like we should discuss what is acceptable in terms of etiquette. If I order food from Uber Eats, should I inform the delivery person in advance, or should I simply ask them to leave the food on the porch? For more local deliveries, is cash still an appropriate form of payment? Should I inform my mail-person? While they wear gloves, there’s some chance they could touch my mailbox. Maybe it’s just easier to put up a black flag on my lawn. I live alone, but etiquette must get complicated when there are multiple people living in a residence. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/2 "2020-03-11T00:14:10Z")
I think if you contact the CDC they have ready-made signs, which you can put on your door mailbox, and leave the rest up to people who make deliveries. Albeit, I suppose you could get some nitrile exam gloves, and place boxes of them in places where they are then an option for people. Ditto hand sanitizer. Consider signing up for Amazon Prime. You will then be eligible for free same-day grocery delivery from Whole Foods, and Amazon Fresh, and while Whole Foods pretty much has what you could get at a brick & mortar WF, Amazon Fresh has almost as much stuff as you could get from a Walmart superstore. There’s also something called Prime Pantry, which lets you get non-perishable food pretty damn cheap, if you order (IIRC) a $35 minimum, and can wait about 48 hours for it. I had a three-week period where DH & DS were out of town, and I had a minor mishap with the car (not an accident, it just failed suddenly), which put it out of commission, & aggravated an old injury, so I couldn’t bike, or walk well, and the nearest bus stop was about six blocks, plus getting anywhere on the bus takes more than an hour. So I was using the delivery services like crazy. Accounting for saving in gasoline and time, it was really worth it. You might get a few masks. If for some reason you need to call a repair person, you can put on a mask, and offer them one, in addition to gloves. You might get lucky, though: by the time you are faced with the real possibility of exposure, maybe there will be a good test. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/3 "2020-03-11T05:00:33Z")
Has anyone placed a QUARANTINE sign on their house and noticed fewer door-to-door solicitors? It’s a strategy… Were we to necessarily self-quarantine in this remote mountain village, we’d be rather fucked. Only FedEx and UPS deliver on our dirt road and I don’t think they’d haul pizza, beer, and milk from our suppliers. We’ve relatives in the neighborhood who could shop but they’re sick too. I suppose we’d have to wait for local wage slaves to leave for work and then go burgle their refrigerator. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/4 "2020-03-11T05:15:13Z")
Can I just remark that planning your quarantine around the use of on-demand delivery services isn’t… well, it’s not a good plan? I may be reading too much into this, but are people’s plans really including “I’m going to stay safe as I can use my barely solvent Uber Eats and Amazon drivers to bring me food and other supplies”? Has anyone thought that maybe the drivers will be quarantined/laid off as well, so there won’t _be_ any Uber Eats or Doordash or Amazon for the duration of the emergency? Anyone consider that maybe the drivers will refuse to deliver to quarantined locations? You think the people in New Rochelle are ordering pizzas? As a driver, would I want to deliver in New Rochelle? C’mon, guys. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/5 "2020-03-11T05:22:13Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > If I order food from Uber Eats, should I inform the delivery person in advance, or should I simply ask them to leave the food on the porch? Doordash sent me an email the other day saying I can request a “no-contact delivery” where the driver will set the food in a place I specify, take a picture of it, and text me the picture after they’ve backed away. Pagliacci Pizza in Seattle is doing pretty much the same thing as well. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/6 "2020-03-11T07:45:44Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Can I just remark that planning your quarantine around the use of on-demand delivery services isn’t… well, it’s not a good plan? > > I may be reading too much into this, but are people’s plans really including “I’m going to stay safe as I can use my barely solvent Uber Eats and Amazon drivers to bring me food and other supplies”? Has anyone thought that maybe the drivers will be quarantined/laid off as well, so there won’t _be_ any Uber Eats or Doordash or Amazon for the duration of the emergency? Anyone consider that maybe the drivers will refuse to deliver to quarantined locations? You think the people in New Rochelle are ordering pizzas? As a driver, would I want to deliver in New Rochelle? > > C’mon, guys. At this exact point in time, yes. I live in Indianapolis, where one of the suburbs has closed down all the schools, and a few other public facilities have voluntarily closed because of two cases. But all the food delivery systems are still operating. We could come to a pandemic point where yes, nothing is operating-- but the thing is, if we got to the point where pretty much everyone had been exposed, quarantine would be pointless, and would probably be lifted. If you are in voluntary quarantine-- or even non-voluntary-- because of international travel, you are going to be one of very few people in this situation, and yes, can probably rely on delivery services. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/7 "2020-03-11T12:24:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Doordash sent me an email the other day saying I can request a “no-contact delivery” where the driver will set the food in a place I specify, take a picture of it, and text me the picture after they’ve backed away. Maybe prop up a copy of a newspaper next to the food… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/8 "2020-03-11T13:34:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Doordash sent me an email the other day saying I can request a “no-contact delivery” where the driver will set the food in a place I specify, take a picture of it, and text me the picture after they’ve backed away. Pagliacci Pizza in Seattle is doing pretty much the same thing as well. I figured something like that would make sense. Tell the delivery person to ring the doorbell and leave the food on the step. I’d just wait until he was back in his car before opening the door. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/9 "2020-03-11T14:17:38Z")
That sort of thing is how food delivery is working in China now; non-contact delivery. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/10 "2020-03-11T14:46:23Z")
Delivery? Of food? Hahahahahahh. I don’t even get mail. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/11 "2020-03-11T15:09:33Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Delivery? Of food? Hahahahahahh. I don’t even get mail. We get it; some of you live in really remote places. You don’t need to remind us. Most of us, and most people, do not live so remotely. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/12 "2020-03-11T15:29:39Z")
I’m a little confused about why delivery services are the instant go-to for people when they’re ill or otherwise unable to leave. Do none of you keep dry pasta around? Frozen pizzas? Canned soups? If I just stopped leaving the house as of today, I’d have enough food to hold out for a considerable period of time. And this isn’t because I’ve been preparing for anything special, because I certainly haven’t. True, after a week and a half or so I wouldn’t be having the most exciting meals, but I’d still get by just fine. And as a bonus, I wouldn’t be endangering anyone else’s health! Goodie! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/13 "2020-03-11T15:34:33Z")
The advice is to have three weeks worth of food at home. That’s a lot, particularly for those us in small apartments, or who share housing with others. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/14 "2020-03-11T15:54:24Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I think if you contact the CDC they have ready-made signs, which you can put on your door mailbox, and leave the rest up to people who make deliveries. Albeit, I suppose you could get some nitrile exam gloves, and place boxes of them in places where they are then an option for people. Ditto hand sanitizer. I’m not leaving a container of hand sanitizer, gloves, or masks outside for the delivery person if I can get any from the store; they are in short supply. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Consider signing up for Amazon Prime. You will then be eligible for free same-day grocery delivery from Whole Foods, and Amazon Fresh, and while Whole Foods pretty much has what you could get at a brick & mortar WF, Amazon Fresh has almost as much stuff as you could get from a Walmart superstore. There’s also something called Prime Pantry, which lets you get non-perishable food pretty damn cheap, if you order (IIRC) a $35 minimum, and can wait about 48 hours for it. Prime costs $120/year; there’s a reason their grocery store is called Whole Paycheck. Delivery services cost anywhere from $5 to $17 (Postmates)/delivery. All this while certain people are having their hours & incomes cut ([restaurants](https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/10/us/seattle-restaurants-customer-decrease-trnd/), [theaters](https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/broadway-shows-nyc-ticket-prices-coronavirus.html), tourism, & convention related business are all down). Yeah, we all _should_ have a 3-6 month financial cushion but a lot of people don’t & are living paycheck to paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/15 "2020-03-11T16:03:38Z")
Note that the OP specifically mentioned food delivery services like Uber Eats, so we’re not talking about those living paycheck to paycheck. Personally, I’m too cheap to pay for a food delivery service even if I can afford it, because [these services add 25-91% to the cost](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/technology/personaltech/ubereats-doordash-postmates-grubhub-review.html) (paywall warning). ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/16 "2020-03-11T21:53:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Note that the OP specifically mentioned food delivery services like Uber Eats, so we’re not talking about those living paycheck to paycheck. The quarantine period is two weeks, so one is losing ½ a month’s salary right off the bat. Depending upon your industry, you may not have a job to go back to, or at best, reduced hours. When one’s income is cut; especially when one doesn’t know for how long, that’s not the prudent time to be increasing one’s expenses. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/17 "2020-03-11T22:09:00Z")
> [@Kovitlac](#): > > I’m a little confused about why delivery services are the instant go-to for people when they’re ill or otherwise unable to leave. Do none of you keep dry pasta around? Frozen pizzas? Canned soups? If I just stopped leaving the house as of today, I’d have enough food to hold out for a considerable period of time. And this isn’t because I’ve been preparing for anything special, because I certainly haven’t. True, after a week and a half or so I wouldn’t be having the most exciting meals, but I’d still get by just fine. And as a bonus, I wouldn’t be endangering anyone else’s health! Goodie! Right now I could probably eat normally for 36 hours. After that I could scrape by eating odds and ends for a few days. I couldn’t survive a week. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/18 "2020-03-11T22:52:10Z")
I’m frankly amazed - are there bunches of people who go shopping multiple times a week as a matter of course, or do you just eat out a lot? I’ll admit if my family was unexpectedly quarantined on a Sunday night (Monday is generally shopping day) then we’d be eating pretty weird shit over the next week (pasta spirals with lentils? Cashew nut toasted sandwiches?). But we’d still be eating every day, and I’m pretty sure we could eke it out two weeks before the last baked bean hit the plate ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/19 "2020-03-11T22:55:33Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Anyone consider that maybe the drivers will refuse to deliver to quarantined locations? You think the people in New Rochelle are ordering pizzas? As a driver, would I want to deliver in New Rochelle? The National Guard is on food delivery duty in New Rochelle right now. Which solves _their_ problem… But your point is a valid one. That is why having a couple weeks of supplies in your own home is a very good idea. It’s great if you can use delivery services, but if you can’t at least you won’t starve if you have a stash in your pantry. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236/20 "2020-03-11T22:57:50Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > We get it; some of you live in really remote places. You don’t need to remind us. Most of us, and most people, do not live so remotely. Fine. I get it. One thing I and some of us won’t get, is help. I’ve been trying to get my employer to set up a work from home policy for years. I am in IS/IT. A few guys in my department work from home when needed. And a blind eye is turned to it. I’m fine with that. WE DO need DBA’s and Analysts at any time. This winter has been rough on me. I had my hip replaced. Perfect opportunity to work from home at least a bit. Nope. Then my mom fell and broke her hip. Another good opportunity as I have to take a day off a week to care for her (she lives 100 miles away, I have spent one weekend at home since January 1st.) I’m wound pretty dam tight. Perhaps the Pandemic will allow more of us to work from home. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-quarantine-etiquette/849236.md?page=2)