Little Miss.Essential
Coming to work the first day after the store made mask a requirement was eerie. It was like walking into a scene of a movie. For the most part no healthy individual wears a mask in public. You cover your face when you are ill or are around someone who is ill. So imagine walking into a room full of people who look like they are all sick. The store informed us that they would only be allowing a certain amount of people in at a time and reducing store hours. Tape was placed on the floor to aid customers in staying 6-feet apart. Frequent sanitizing and a new check-out and bagging system was implemented as well. Because of all the precautions the store made to keep the staff and customers safe, I felt safe and continued to go and work. My friends were super worried about me but to me it wasn’t really a big deal. I figured I was being safe and so was my place of work so I should be fine. I even started to wear gloves during my shift and when I went out into public. I also sanitized things I touched when I came in from outdoors. I did all of this for peace of mind but more importantly for my safety and the safety of people around me.
During the thick of the pandemic I watched little news. The news honestly did more harm than good to my mental state. In an effort to stay abreast I would check the COVID-19 stats via the CDC website and some days that was even too much to handle. Oh and did I mention I live in New York City the epicenter of COVID-19? My family who worried about me a lot during this time gave me a hardy number of updates on the virus when they called to check on me. Throughout it all I continued to go to Trader Joe’s and work. Not because I needed the money (my previous employer was still paying me) but because I felt that I was doing something to help others. I felt like I was doing something larger than myself and that gave me joy. I also continued to go because of my fellow crew members. I had the option not to work but many of them didn't. I worked with some pretty amazing people and I didn’t want to leave them just because I had the option to. We were a team and it didn’t seem right to leave when things got tough. Recently I have decided to leave Trader Joe’s, but I enjoyed every bit of my time there. Though working through a pandemic was hard I am happy I was able to help, even if it was just a little.
Thank you to all essential works. No matter how big or small
you think your roll is you are helping many in need and you are appreciated!
Xoxo,
Sigourneyb
Service to others. 💚💖💚💖
ReplyDeleteI shopped for Shipt during the entire pandemic....like you said, not for the money. It’s a blessing to help others! I smile every time I deliver to the elderly!! You ate essential!!
That's awesome! Yea it was so rewarding. I kindof miss it but it was time to go.
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