Reporter Brenda Vowden makes her own mask

Napier Courier reporter Brenda Vowden wearing a homemade mask to the supermarket.

Lockdown, a word perhaps more commonly associated with prisons, hospitals and school shootings, has now become part of our every day vocabulary.

I was a little ahead of the crowd with my version, beginning a couple of weeks early with a broken bone which had stopped me in my tracks a bit before the rest of the country.

I did, however manage to hobble into the supermarket right when things were ramping up, to do our groceries and my Mum and Dad's — they wanted two weeks' worth and I didn't want to be there at all.

At that point I had no idea we were supposed to nominate one member per household to grab the goods — mind you to be fair there were two of us representing two houses — so off my husband and I trotted. Well more of a limp and a pull-through swing action for me.

And I took it one moonboot-clad step further — I wore a mask.

Now this was in the days when we were all feeling pretty edgy and hadn't been given any official mask wearing advice. Coincidentally, I had come across a great mask making tutorial on Facebook the previous night and had put together a couple.

Who knows how many droplets going in or out are caught amidst two layers of paper towel folded fan-like, with rubber band ear loops stapled at either end into place? I wasn't taking any chances and didn't much care what I looked like, which turned out was a little short of ridiculous.

Fast forward three weeks and who would have thought a trip to the supermarket would be the highlight of the week.

For me at least it beats a lopsided shuffle up and down the hallway. And all I do is stay in the car, bottle of disinfectant at the ready — no mask required here.

Out he comes as if all is well with the world — mind you he does work almost at the front line so don't blame him adopting a more casual gait.

We have a small ritual when we unload — well I do — spray the hands, too late you've now touched the trolley, spray the handles of the bags, too late they already sat in the trolley, spray that instead, or as well as, now you touched your hand which touched the trolley which sat on the ..."Don't open the dooooor! I'll spray it first."