Q: Where do you work? How long? And what’s your position?

A: “Schererville Strack & Van Til, I’ve been working there a little over a year and I am a utility clerk. My main duties are bagging groceries, helping customers and helping departments that may need it. Basically, I am both customer and employee assistance.”

Q: Do you feel safe at work? Why or why not?

A: “I did before all of the virus news broke out, and even when people were just starting to worry about it, they still knew it was a thing and knew it could become a larger issue. But generally people just acted like it was the normal flu up until the government started talking about shutting places down and putting more restrictions on what the general public could do. I felt that not just my company but other businesses were not taking the issue as seriously [as] they should have. Certain precautions that should have been taken were not done in enough time. Because of that I have temporarily quit my position along with many of my other coworkers for our own safeties. Since I have quit I have heard of new requirements, like temperature readings before employees are allowed to work and all employees are highly recommended to wear some kind of a mask and gloves.”

Q: How did your store adapt to the shopping frenzy when the COVID-19 panic started?

A: “We stopped trying to order some supplies, one of those being toilet paper, and for many other grocery related items, we started to both increase the frequency of our orders and size of our orders. We began a mass hiring event that allowed for a lot more hands to come in and temporarily lighten the workload, just as extra hands to even out the customer to employee ratio. There were signs placed around for both customers and employees to see in places like the break room, bathrooms, entrances and time clock where employees clock in. They said general CDC recommendations on how to protect oneself against potential contamination and spread of the virus. Like I said, after I left they implemented other precautions. We also started having a senior hour, where no one under the age of 60 was allowed to shop from the hours to 6 a.m.-7 a.m.”

Q: How did you adapt as a worker when the COVID-19 panic started?

A: “I started to wear protective gloves more. Not just while dealing with typically dangerous materials, but also while handling carts, various products and making sure I am switching my gloves frequently so as to not have a buildup of germs. Some of my other coworkers started to wear masks, as well as some started to temporarily leave, until they feel it is safe to return.”

Q: What has been the most difficult about this situation?

A: “While I know my job is not the most detrimental, it was my way of helping people and what I noticed [is] I started to become another ear for a lot of people to hear about what they might have been dealing with and to share what I have seen [to] help calm them.”

Q: How were the customers responses?

A: “Some customers began their preparation long before many others had fears; those customers had a much easier time finding the supplies and groceries that they needed. Once the initial fears began the store became overwhelmed with customers sometimes resulting in very long lines. There were many nights that we would have customers in the store long after our normal closing hour, and even after customers had left, there were still many of us employees left having to clean up and reset for the next day. There were frequent questions about when productes would be coming in on deliveries and there started to be an uptick in use of services similar to Instacart. Overall, customers were very understanding and very respectful, there were little to no arguments or complaints on both customer and employee sides.”

Q: Were there any fights that broke out at your store?

A: “While I was still working I heard rumors about fights that happened at other Strack & Van Til’s. About two weeks ago one of my coworkers had a fight break out at her register between two customers. The issue was taken outside and police were involved.”

Q: What would be your best advice for people trying to go out and shop but also keep themselves and workers safe?

A: “Wear whatever protective equipment that you can, while it may be hard, try and avoid crowding next to other customers and employees. Respect that other people are going through similar things as you and are just as scared as the rest of us. If you see someone who is pregnant, someone with a young child or an elderly person offer to help them, or make sure there is something on the shelf for them.”