I try to keep things on the lighter side on this blog. There’s nothing I love more than sharing a spooky story or idea, or a random memory. But I created this blog as a public forum to talk about things that are important to me. Yes, the vast majority of what’s important to me relates to Halloween in some way and that is what keeps me sane and happy even during the worst of times. But there are instances where the worst of times still hits me, hard, and there are things I’d like to say right now.
We are currently in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. My state has the second-highest number of cases of COVID-19 in the country. It is terrifying, and I’m not home surrounding myself with the things that make me happiest during this time.
I am the assistant manager of the online shopping department in a grocery store.
To say that the workload has gotten out of control would be the understatement of the century. We are absolutely flooded with orders, currently behind by two days, and we simply don’t have the manpower to finish them. The mayor of the town has gotten involved and demanded we open more time slots, and encourages the customer to place larger sized orders, combining with other families or shopping for multiple weeks in case of a total lockdown. Our orders are now a minimum of $400 each, but tend to be more toward the $600-$1000 range. Every day we push through crowds of people...these same people who claim to be so afraid of the virus yet come into the store every day, usually in groups, and make the same complaints about the lines being too long and the shelves being too empty. The crowds are so massive that it’s impossible to maintain a six foot distance from one another. We have the highest limit of people being allowed in the store at one time in the entire company and even then I know it’s being breached. Again, it’s terrifying coming into contact with all these people per day. There are some that are grateful, but many treat us like malfunctioning computers if we can’t automatically produce what they came for. We are doing our best, but the warehouse only has so much product to give us and the circumstances are extreme.
I won’t downplay what my coworkers elsewhere in the store are going through, but my department is likely getting hit the hardest. We have been bombarded with new customers, from all over the state, thinking that just because they were finally able to book a time slot with us, that we will magically have everything they need, as if the warehouse reserves an item for them the second their order is placed. We barely see our former regular customers anymore. Everyone is new, and most of these customers are elderly and in a panic, have barely used internet shopping services before, and need us to act as a tech support desk in addition to shopping, billing, and loading up their orders. At store level, we know little more than the customers do. The website is not handled by the individual stores. It’s handled by the corporate offices, whose hold times are also astronomical right now. I’ve been screamed at about their hold times probably ten times a day since this started. I wish I could do more, but I only know so much. No store employee is allowed to look at credit card information or account passwords, nor are we allowed to push anyone to the front of the line or give someone a time slot that simply isn’t there. I know the two and a half week turnaround time is ridiculous. But these time slots filled up so fast the second this started, there is no way to keep up with it all.
I take no pleasure in having to turn people away. Last night, after an eleven and a half hour work day, having had to cover for a coworker who has decided not to come back to work until this is all over due to the fact that he lives with elderly parents, I broke down in the shower over all of the people that I couldn’t help. My entire day was either calling people to tell them their orders were being delayed by yet another day, or taking phone calls from desperate customers in need, that I could tell were elderly and scared, and having to tell them there was nothing I could do at this time. If I had my way, I would get them all what they needed. But it simply isn’t feasible right now. I assure you, I do not just see names on a piece of paper, or just hear a random voice on the other end of the phone. Every single person I interact with on a daily basis is a human being, and it’s heartbreaking not being able to do more. I understand the frustration even from the angriest of people, but we are doing the best we can. No one was expecting it to get this bad. No one knows what to do. Not the people working at the store. Not the manufacturers of the items, not even the people in the corporate offices. We are all just trying to do the best we can. We are putting ourselves and those that we live with at risk, just as much as the customers are, if not more. We are all worried about this virus.
I suppose the point I’m trying to make here is simply, please be mindful during this difficult period of time. It is no one’s fault that the world is this way right now, and the grocery store employees truly have no control over the amount of product we have or the resources we have to get things done. We are all doing our best. Please be kind to one another. And, as always, if it pleases you, stay spooky, my friends.
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