My First Day Going to Work During A Pandemic Emily Howse   © Copyright 2021 by Emily Howse

I finished getting ready for work and said “bye I love you” to my mom and grandmother and got in the car and went to work.  On the way to work I chill out, blast some music and take the long way to work so it can be a relaxing drive before I walk into chaos.  I’m hoping that there are enough people working today in on line grocery pick up because when there aren’t enough grocery runners it can be overwhelming.  I’m also wondering if there will be any of the good workers scheduled for the same time that I am there .  It is frustrating when I am working and running back and forth bringing out groceries and going to the staging area and to the cooler and other people are just standing around doing anything.  

Then there are the customers who complain about the wait time for their groceries to be brought out.  There are times when there aren’t enough people in our department .  When that happens, sometimes they grab people from other departments, which short staffs that department.  I know that the plan was to hire some more people to work online grocery pick up.  Hopefully that happens soon.  There are customers, in the store, that stop me to ask if we are hiding items in the back like toilet paper and cleaners.  We aren’t.  We can’t put that stuff out fast enough and most of the time, it doesn’t last long on the shelves. 

I’m also hoping to see some of my regular online grocery customers who understand that we are doing the best we can.  People have to remember that most of us are high school students or young adults.  We can’t control what the store has or doesn’t.  We can’t control the fact that there is a pandemic and the amount of people using the online grocery option has gone up.  Be patient with us.  We are doing our best.  We have to follow the pick up verification process and mention the satisfaction survey.  .  There are times that I want to explode and be rude right back to customers when they have an attitude with me, but I don’t.  I keep my cool, take a deep breath and walk away after I’m done with putting the groceries in their car.  

As I pull into the parking lot, I see that there is a small line of people waiting to get in.  I guess today there was a rush of people wanting to get in and get out and we were over the amount of people that we can have in the store.  It’s interesting because while people are shopping, no one is paying attention to the social distancing or only having one person in your family do the shopping if you can.  There are entire families shopping and wondering around.  I get it, you’re tired of being in the house.  We all are.  But walking around Wal-Mart to look at things isn’t what you need to do.  Take a walk or sit outside.  

Getting my temperature taken wasn’t a big deal.  Thought the screening would be done by a nurse or maybe someone from pharmacy.  But it was done by a Wal-Mart employee.  I got asked a bunch of questions about my health and how I was feeling.  It was odd.  Never thought I’d have to do this to be told I could work retail.  Got handed a mask.  Wasn’t as bad as I thought.  Didn’t make me feel like I couldn’t breathe.  Walked to the break room since I got there  early.  I normally get there 30 minutes early to chill and relax before work.  I also get there early to see if there is anything new that I need to know. Sometimes there's food in the breakroom for all staff that is provided by managers.  They don’t have to do that but I think it’s nice when they do.  It’s nice to feel appreciated.  

My shift for that day wasn’t bad.  No customers were rude and I didn’t get yelled at.  Customers I helped were pleasant and understanding and some even said thank you.  Sometimes they try to give some of us tips but we aren’t allowed to accept them.  There were co-workers there that I liked and that worked.  I didn’t have to say anything or show how annoyed I was because no one was standing around.  And we did hire more people for online grocery so maybe people won’t be so angry about the amount of time they have to wait for someone to bring out their groceries. Hopefully things will eventually get back to normal soon. 

I'm a senior at my high school.  This was my experience working during Covid.  I live at home and continue to work my part time job.