Ayesha Abdullah narrates how grocery store workers have risen up to the coronavirus challenge.
I usually don’t work on Thursdays, but on March 12th I did. I got a call from my manager begging me to come in because the store was in shambles. This wasn’t out of the ordinary for our store since it’s in the middle of a busy intersection in Mississauga around 4 PM. I assumed it was the usual rush-hour crowd who was trying to buy their groceries.
But I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I could barely enter the store without nearly stepping on someone. People were pushing and shoving trying to get from aisle to aisle. Everyone was well aware of Covid-19 but no one was prepared. No one knew how to prepare. Everyone’s first thought was “We’re going to turn out like Italy,” who had just gone into lockdown.
We had every cash register open, and all self-checkouts open. We cashiers were just as confused and panicked as everyone else, but somehow, we kept our sanity. I found a lot of us would glance up for a second to see if by chance the line had reduced, but it only seemed to get longer. The shelves of pasta and lentils that would usually be filled were empty. Toilet paper suddenly had a limit. And people were still trying to price match.
We had to close the store about an hour and a half early since none of us cashiers had even gone on break. A lot of us were near tears since Karen and her husband felt like they deserved 10 rolls of toilet paper along with 16 cans of chickpeas, but we could only sell them two. At the end of the night, we had 11 buggies filled with returns that needed to be put away and a handful of exhausted cashiers.
The following day, our boss was able to get security to monitor the number of people, but there were huge adjustments that needed to be made.
It was trying to explain to customers that they couldn’t buy six loaves of bread to put in their freezer because others needed it.
It was putting arrows on the floor to guide customers to walk one way.
It was changing our store hours which meant we wouldn’t go home close to midnight.
It was having cashiers leave in fear of contracting a virus, then hiring new cashiers and having to train them at 5 AM instead of during the day.
It was also having to fear coming to work because you didn’t know which customers had it.
It was having that fear heightened when an employee tested positive.
It was hearing that your workplace is a high-risk area, and still having to come into work with a smile and make sure people got their groceries.
It was cleaning any time you had the chance, and constantly smelling bleach.
Days turned into months, and here we are, still trying to adjust to whatever the new norm is.
I realized a lot during this pandemic.
I learned that a minimum wage worker at a grocery store is just as important as anyone else.
I learned that people panic at the first sign of trouble.
That some people don’t know how to dispose of their used gloves and masks (it’s really not that hard to throw them out).
That responsibilities increase during times of desperation.
That it’s your not-so-glamorous workers, such as the custodians and grocery clerks, that make sure our day-to-day needs are met.
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