Suddenly Essential

I haven't written for a very long time... years, actually, but I want to do it more, so here we go.
 

I don't want to talk about the policies surrounding the virus, there's plenty of people doing that. I just want to share a bit about what it has been like to work at a grocery store during this time.

In 2010, when I was 20 years old, I was hired as a cashier at Hannaford. During my first winter working there, I drove to work in a few snowstorms. One was nasty enough that business was pretty slow when I got there. I had been there maybe an hour or so, when a manager asked me if I would like to go home. Obviously, I said "no", after going through the trouble of getting to work in the storm, it seemed foolish to only work for an hour. I was given the task of doing some deep cleaning, since there was nothing else for me to do on such a slow day. I asked "Why doesn't the store just close on days like this? It's so slow that people are looking for things to do, and it seems a waste of time & money to keep the doors open just for a little business". My manager responded with something like "Well, we have to be open, because we're considered an emergency location, since we have water, food, a pharmacy, etc...... blah, blah, blah"...... And there it was.

I had applied for, and accepted a minimum  wage job as a cashier, so I could save up for a car & other things. I didn't sign up to be an emergency worker. I wasn't running into a burning building, or performing lifesaving surgery, but I was expected to be at work when I was scheduled, even during a hurricane. After nearly 12 years with the company, I've done it many times. In one blizzard, Governor LePage even advised that people stay off the roads if at all possible. During that storm, I drove to
work before it got too bad, but when my shift was over, the roads & visibility were absolutely treacherous. At that time, my usual drive home took about 35 minutes, in good weather. On this day, it took me 2 hours, and I got stuck 5 times. On another occasion, my boyfriend, who also works for the company, went off the road in a storm on his way to work and had to spend $100 to get towed. He was told that he could not be reimbursed because he was not on the clock when it happened.
So, fast forward to 2020, when there was talk about a virus abroad... and then the first case in the United States... in New England... in Maine... Some businesses and  schools were choosing to temporarily close, or make changes to their way of doing things. I, half-jokingly, assured some friends "Oh, don't worry, Hannaford closes for nothing". I was not wrong. For 2 weeks in a row, my boyfriend and I hardly saw each other, working more overtime than we ever had, as people swarmed the grocery
stores, thinking that things would be closed or there would be shortages on the horizon. Capacity limits had not yet been placed on retailers, so the stores were absolutely packed with customers, and employees trying to keep up with waiting on those customers.Forget about 6 feet, people were 6 inches apart.

Customers started making demands, like "Why do I have to walk ALL the way into the lobby to get to the cart wipes? I could have already touched a contaminated cart. What are YOU doing to keep ME safe?"
The stupid questions abounded. "Are you guys SERIOUSLY running out of stuff?" (Nope, just figuratively)
It really did bring out the best, and the worst in some customers. I watched people doing the most foolish things.
 -A woman sticking a pen inside her mask, to pull it down & talk to somebody.
 -A customer coming out of the bathroom stall with gloves on, picking her purse up off the bathroom floor, and barely washing her gloved hands.
 -A lady who got upset, when offered a freshly sanitized cart, because she was suddenly aware that she already touched a "dirty" cart that she found in the parking lot, with her gloved hands.
Many associates were either afraid of the virus, or overwhelmed with what was now expected of them, and decided to take a 'leave of absence' until further notice. Businesses were allowed to remain open based on whether or not they were "essential".
 

Then, just like that, I had a new job title-
 "Essential Worker"
It became common for me to hear things like-
 -"Thank you for your service"
 -"Thank you for working"
 -"Thank you for for keeping your store so clean"
Nobody, in 10 years, had ever thanked me for working during a snowstorm. All I ever got was something like "Man, the roads are terrible, nobody should have to be out in
this." or "I didn't think you guys would be open with the roads as bad as they are, but I'm glad you are, because I really needed ____." (Insert something here that nobody actually needs)

I have to admit, I kind of liked the 6 foot rule. I wanted people out of my personal space before it was cool. This, of course, did not stop a few people from giving me a rub on the shoulder or a pat on the back. Cashiers and baggers were each given a piece of plexiglass in front of there work space. Of course, there is a space just wide enough for a customer's entire body to fit through between those 2 shields... and they did, constantly. At least every other customer leaned around the glass to ask me a question. More and more, throughout this time, customers were less and less patient. Even those who were genuinely concerned about the virus. Extra demands were made of us and people wanted to know what kind of cleaning we were doing and changes we were making to make them safe, but when I asked a customer to give a cashier or bagger some friggin space, I was often met with an eye-roll, and something like "Well, this is all new to me" in a snappy tone (as if this shit wasn't new to us). Ironically, it was not uncommon at all for someone to lean in about 5 inches from my face, to tell me that someone in the store is not wearing a mask, or to complain about other customers not following the one-way arrows in the aisles.

After the first 2 weeks of insanity & overtime, Hannaford announced that it would be paying employees an extra $2/hour. This, of course, was not retroactive. The previous 2 weeks did not warrant hazard pay added to my check. Initially, we were advised, as the rest of the country was, that masks were more harmful than helpful, and employees should not wear them. Then, a couple months later, we were told that we MUST wear them, as it was now considered part of the uniform.
The gratitude that was so popular at first, started to fade. Then, after a couple more months, "COVID PAY" vanished from our checks. The "essential" work that we were doing didn't really change, and the risk that we're exposing ourselves to, working so close with the public, didn't go away. Then I had some customers asking me why I'm not calling out every customer that's not wearing a mask, others asking me why we are still running low on product, and many asking when certain policies will start going back to normal...
I'm not sure what changed between June 27th & June 28th, that made us less deserving of a little extra in our paychecks.


And with that, I can tell you what has gone back to normal, after nearly 2 years.
 -I'm not viewed as an essential worker, as businesses are back open.
 -I'm no longer thanked for working during a pandemic.
 -Customers mostly have no sympathy or understanding for me adapting to a role that I never actually signed up for.
 -Most of all, my paycheck.

I've seen some eye-rolls from people when I talk about hazard pay. I get it, I'm not a nurse, or a police officer. Honestly, I certainly don't feel like I'm putting my life at risk by working at a grocery store. My problem is that the expectation is more than most of us signed up for. I didn't sign up to be a bouncer yet some customers expected me to stop maskless individuals from entering the store. I didn't take a job in healthcare, yet some customers expected my register to be a sterile environment. Heaven forbid if I rolled my sleeves up & forgot to sanitize my hands.

12 years ago, I signed up to be a cashier, and then a supervisor and bookkeeper. My skills include counting money and scanning your groceries really fast.
I didn't exactly feel entitled to higher pay before it was given to me. However, now that it has been given & taken away, it leads me to ask a lot of questions.
*Was it hazard pay for risking my health & safety to work during a pandemic? If this was the reason, shouldn't it continue as long as the "hazard" is considered present? Shouldn't we also receive it for a blizzard so bad that the governor advises everyone to stay off the roads?
*Was it for all of the extra work I was doing that was above & beyond what I agreed to when I accepted the job offer? I guess this couldn't be it, because until about 6 months ago I was still playing traffic director for the registers and climbing over a plastic chain to fetch products & help customers.
*Was it an incentive to get &/or keep employees at a time when many didn't want to work? An incentive that no longer seemed needed, after we hired many temporary
employees, and many of those who were on a leave of absence have returned. Well, I guess that only a company-wide no-call/no-show would determine that. Also, we're shorter on help than we ever were in the past 2 years, but that's a blog for another day.
*Was it just really trendy to show gratitude for people showing up to work when many were getting paid to stay home? <<<< I think we have a winner.
Customers were asking about it, "They really should be paying you guys extra". Grocery store workers were suddenly heroes, for cryin' out loud. All the big businesses were doing it, so nobody wanted to be only ones looking like assholes.
I guess since they gave us "Heroes" t-shirts & a few free lunches we had been thanked enough. We wouldn't want it to all go to our heads.

Anyway, you'll see me in the next snowstorm, making sure that you can still get your coffee brandy, muffins, and pizza rolls.
All the essentials.