Good evening,
This is written to all those who may be concerned or simply curious. Since the beginning of the pandemic I've written and recorded on what my life is like, how its changed, and more importantly, I've written about what its like to work retail during the pandemic, at a grocery store. You can find the history written here. This is an updated post to give details about the current state of affairs that is covid versus retail.
For starters, in the beginning of the pandemic we had employees who singlehandedly cleaned all the carts for customers. As of 11/19, we are no longer doing that. We provide customers with the cleaner spray bottle and paper towels that sit outside at the door, but the idea of every customer touching the spray bottle might turn some people off and altogether disregard cleaning their carts.
Second, the most important item on detail, is the fact that our store director/manager is no longer providing free masks for the employees and especially not for customers who come into the store without a mask for unknown reasons. The fact that they stopped giving out free masks was a deep low blow to the community of workers who have worked so hard during these tumultuous times.
Third, the company has provided bonus relief/holiday bonus of $100 to every employee. Yeah, that's not a bad idea. It really boosts the morale of your workforce with a such a good play like this. However, the fact that hours have been consistently cut means that the workers are losing so much money that a $100 bonus might not be that much of a boost.
Fourth, the online ordering department has been a success. The workers know the job well and have improved a lot. Online ordering has become a big part of the store and it's only going to get stronger.
Lastly, I want to talk about the retail worker, his or her spirit, his or her morale, his or her fears, anger, resentment, and downright sheer recklessness of working in a place where you could catch the virus around big crowded people huddled in tiny checkout aisles.
The average grocery store worker is shell-shocked right now. We don't know what's going to happen and every day that we go to work is another day where it's easier to catch the virus. Their hours have been cut but they're still expected to perform excellent customer service skills, despite management doing things like no longer offering daily free masks for employees. The morale has never been lower. Ever. Keep in mind that the young people who work at grocery stores already have low morale because they're typically not happy at or on the job, and display that sort of attitude often with coworkers. This has been the hardest year at the company for them, and things will only get worse as the winter progresses.
It's easier said than done to just relax and be happy. Go do zen meditation. Well, these people can't relax because they're working their ass off to pay rent, bills, food for their kids, gas in their cars, medical insurance and billing, and they need extra hours to pay for it all but aren't getting it, because business is slow, and they're not needed, and upper management wants to save money on hours.
The next time you buy your food at the market really thank your cashier, look them in the eyes and really mean it. It goes a long way. It isn't just doctors and nurses who are essential workers, its regular people like us too.
el trabajador minorista se niega a morir
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