A day in the life of a grocery employee….
I never thought I would live in a time where the words “I’m going to the store to see what groceries I can find” would come out of my mouth, Yet here were are. People wait at the doors before they open, Some even pound on them to be let in before everyone else. Employees have to call to be let into the store, It’s like a covert operation. Though it is starting to get a little better, people still flock to the stores and buy much more than necessary (what will they do with all the toilet paper when this is over?) Until yesterday I wouldn’t let my 72 year old mother out of the house. I asked my facebook people if I knew anyone locally making masks. A friend brought me 2 she had made. I feel a little better about letting mom go to the store if she needs to, but not much. Unfortunately if we employees want anything, we have to be part of the heard at the doors before 6am or buy before our shift, if we are lucky enough to have an opening shift. Even then you still may not get what you need or want. We have dedicated elderly hours. Can we please have dedicated “Employee only” hours?
Our department managers are doing the best they can to get product back on the shelves. They order and order but the warehouses can only do so much as well. It’s a domino effect. Stripe the stores clean and you stripe the warehouses clean because they have more than one empty store to refill. When supply is greater than demand it’s no problem but the tables have turned. Will things get back to normal? Sure but it will take a while.
My town/county has been hit but not as hard as some areas of the state. The worst hit in my county has been the Navajo Nation. There have been a few local cases but not many. What is scary is that, soon, the summer residents will be coming up from the hardest hit areas of the state. Putting more stress on our already depleted resources (Yes I know it’s like that everywhere). I don’t know what they think they will find. Everything is closed. We can’t gather. Heck, today is Palm Sunday and we can’t even go to church, Thank goodness for technology and we can listen to our pastors online.
On the brighter side of things, people seem to be a little nicer, a little more patient. I did, in the beginning, hear one customer complaining to management about the lack of toilet paper (had he been watching the news?) From a personal perspective, I get yelled at (about things completely out of my control) a lot less than normal. I get thanked for doing my job (which is completely unheard of in my department)
Anyway, I could go on rambling for hours.
We’ll get through this, just hang in there…
PS…Please stop buying all the paper products…
