AN ESSENTIAL WORKER’S TAKE ON PANDEMIC MADNESS

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COVID-19 has really put a wrench in the lives of people in 2020. People are losing their jobs, loved ones, and all you hear from the news is the death toll and video of people fighting over toilet paper.

In dangerous times like this, you see the worst of people: That is even more true from my perspective, as a worker for a retail store that is considered “essential.” Having to establish limits so people don’t hoard, putting down tape so that people stay 6 feet away from each other for social distancing – it all adds up.

For me, it’s even worse since we employees are the ones on the front line. One of the first things that you realize when you work for an essential store is how little stock you can get and put out. Everyone talks about toilet paper; that’s true for us workers, as well. But then you also have to consider other equipment, such as protective masks, which we sold out of a month before the Oregon state government issued the stay-at-home order. Or gloves, sanitizer, and cleaning agents, which flew off the shelves just before the order.

Once they are gone and you realize the warehouse can’t stock the store anymore, you think – naïvely trying to maintain some positivity – “That’s one less thing to worry about.” And then all the customers come to you: “Hey, do you know when we get more toilet paper?” “Hey, do you still have any hand sanitizer?” And then you realize how serious it gets, and you get tired of same questions over and over again.

For me, those questions get more worrisome since I work in a store that sells firearms.

I’m trained to be ever-watchful whenever we have a gun out and to know good gun safety rules when showcasing one. But I also see the Oregon State Police firearms system for background checks reach a saturation level of 2,800 people trying to buy a gun statewide. And that number is double, because that is (posted on) only one internet server, and there are many more.

It’s even worse when I’d realize that about 90% of our sales workers have never even touched a gun before. And the customers who get a gun based on how cool it looks; or, when handling it, point it directly at me with a finger on the trigger (we make sure it’s unloaded!), because they have no idea how to do so safely. Or they buy the wrong ammunition for home defense because it’s cheaper, not realizing that it will blast through everything (it makes the walls of my apartment feel that much thinner).

And then comes the worst part: the thieves, the ones who take advantage of an already scary situation and make our lives a living hell, because they know we can’t do anything about it. That’s because if we try and intervene, they can turn around and sue us, and we become the bad guys. That’s the nature of our system and we can do nothing…12 in one day; on another, five in an hour. It’s no longer stocking and facing (arranging items on the shelf); it’s walking around like the CIA, keeping track of a person who’s in been in the store for an hour and just watching, because we have no LPs (“loss prevention” staff) to help us out.

Everything that happens takes a toll on us. We’re already exhausted from a hard day’s work, and now it’s even worse because we have the threat of being directly exposed to the virus, many times over. We have to remain strong for others, because panic will drive us all backwards. One of my coworkers has already reached the breaking point.

Naïve customers tell me, “You’re lucky, you can go out and do something. You have more freedom then us.”

Yeah, we’re lucky to have to deal with customers who don’t understand limits. We’re lucky to have to watch people steal money out of our paychecks. I’m lucky I can have the freedom to go to work and not be able to enjoy Easter with my family, because I could possibly kill them with my exposure to COVID-19.

As my Dad told me over Skype as I spoke with my parents, “We didn’t need to give up anything for Lent, because we already had to give up our freedom, thanks to COVID.”