About this Project
Hi! I’m just a regular person who lives next to a Trader Joe’s.
Since staying home and social distancing became a thing, seeing the Trader Joe’s line all day has been a constant reminder of this new reality. On the other hand, it’s been an amazing advantage knowing when the line goes down to 0 to 5 minutes (I promise this happens often!). Buying groceries these days is stressful enough without a 30-minute or longer wait. I made this site to help my neighbors reduce that stress and save time, while raising money for the thousands in our community experiencing food insecurity.
Our mission is to help people see the Rockridge Trader Joe’s line in real time during business hours. This will help all of us time our trips to the store accordingly to reduce crowding and time waste. We want to flatten the daily TJ’s traffic curve to keep us all a little safer and more sane during these unusual and uncertain times.
How it works.
My job
It’s kinda simple!
Every day before Trader Joe’s opens I’ll stick a smartphone or two at the edge of a window in my apartment.
I’ll try not to sleep in or forget.
I’ll use streaming apps to cast live footage of the line onto this website.
Sometimes I’ll have technical difficulties such as the app crashing or the phone overheating, and human error will most definitely be at play, but I promise to try my best!
I’ll work very hard to make sure I’m not breaking the law or invading anyone’s privacy while building this unexpected but needed project in real-time.
My main goal is to passively stream an adequate, anonymized view of the Rockridge TJ’s line during business hours, without crashing the internet, getting sued, or other technical difficulties.
My other very important goal is to raise money for food-insecure people in our community.
Your job
It’s even simpler!!
Use this site to check the line at the Rockridge Trader Joe’s before you go, and tell your friends and neighbors to do the same.
Be safe but quick! Line lengths sometimes change rapidly.
Plan your trips accordingly, fight the instinct to bring your own bags, wear a mask, and enjoy your reduced wait time. Be sure to thank the amazing TJ’s crew while you’re at it.
Use that extra time to homeschool your kids, take care of loved ones, and otherwise cope with the situation you currently find yourself in.
If this site helps you and you’re in a position to donate, please do. All proceeds will go to organizations addressing food insecurity in our community.
One more thing:
I made sure to provide a fancy, formal privacy page, in part to accommodate folks that may find this project to be an invasion of their personal privacy (legally it is not). I also want to remind everyone that I am risking my own personal security by putting this project out into the world. I have loved ones who are concerned with the fact that I’m making it easy for people to find out who I am and where I live. But I’m an optimist, and I believe that this tool will do enough good to justify this small but real risk to my personal privacy and physical safety. That said, PLEASE don’t murder, assault, stalk or rob me guys. Please? Also, donate!