I thought I’d dust off this ancient-looking blog and start to keep a diary of this time of virus and anxiety from the perspective of a grocery worker. While most people I know are off work right now, fearing for both their health and their jobs, we are working all the time. In fact I have been wanting to write something for days but haven’t had the time or energy. It seems important to document a little of this to remember later. If there is a later…
It’s nice to be officially considered an “essential worker” for once. I mean, I’ve always considered the big picture of what we do – bringing food to the people – essential. And I always knew that in the back of my mind, because I like reading history, that grocery workers have had a special place in times of turmoil and trouble: wars, disasters, general strikes, etc. People need to eat.
One of the reasons I like working with food is because it is such an essential need for everyone. But that has never been more clear than the last few weeks when reaction to COVID-19 has made our store busy in an unprecedented way.
Three weeks ago I was comparing it to Y2K, but we surpassed that a long time ago.
Two weeks ago I was joking that this is all the work of the food holidays with none of the fun. It was fun to say that at the time.
This week, after it was clear that a shelter in place order would be given, things amped up even more. I have no comparison for it at all.
I’ve worked at this co-op for almost 26 years. With holidays, it may be extra busy for a while but there are breaks. As a buyer of cheese – a less perishable perishable – I am used to a pattern of buying where you usually put on the brakes after a certain amount of days because you can predict a slowdown. After two solid weeks of solid busy all my experience told me that it couldn’t keep going like it was… Instead of braking I have my foot jammed on the accelerator.
On a micro level – a level I still have to operate on in my daily work life — I get itchy when I have less than three whole wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano in stock. Right now everything we have is on the shelf. We are doubling the amount of commodity blocks we cut at a time and still running low or out before we can replenish. Because of the nature of cheese in cold storage, we have less out-of-stocks than other departments but the nature of distribution these days is “lean” and “efficient” which means more disruption in the supply chain right now.
This may be different in other stores and other places – a large-scale worker-owned co-op is a special place — but I am seeing people stock up and buy a lot, but not seeing hoarding. I am seeing co-workers trying to figure out the safest ways to do things in an unknown environment. I am also see us working way too much to try and meet demand. I am seeing regular customers here on unusual days, their patterns disrupted. Mostly, I am seeing people be extra caring to each other, even if in fleeting and physically distant ways. I am also watching people trying to interact without the familiar touching or even facial expressions when people are trying to stay 6 ft. apart and half the folks I see are wearing some kind of mask.
We have instituted measures that even a week ago I didn’t think we could implement. We are only allowing a certain number of people in the store at once. We have a line to get in where people are waiting six feet apart. We have shortened our hours (for a list of like 10 reasons). We are trying to reserve 9-10 for seniors and most at-risk members of the community. We are offering gloves to every customer.
But we are making these things up as we go. Some won’t work out and may cause more hassle before we get them worked out. Everything right now is on a trial basis and a social experiment. There will be lines and the few things open will take longer. That’s our (temporary) reality. We’ve come a long way in a short time
And let’s not kid ourselves, this is intense. There is a frenetic energy because of the crowds and the multiple legitimate anxieties everyone, including those of us still working right now, is holding right now. We are all pretty exhausted. Essential, but exhausted.
(Remember everyone, what I write are my own opinions and not necessarily the view of my other co-workers or the workplace as a whole.)
Gordon ("Zola") Edgar 