The Five People You Meet In A Grocery Store During A Pandemic
This is a work of fiction.
They call me essential now, I’m a cashier at a grocery store and my name is Diane. I’m just wondering, does calling me essential involve a raise of some sort. If not, then you are just making yourself feel better by calling me that. You always needed me to do the work you don’t want to do.
I do the menial tasks, the brainless activities like bagging groceries and counting cash. I was no one to you a few weeks ago, and I’ll be no one to you when this is all over. I don’t mind being nobody, I don’t care about doing your dirty work, I just want to get paid better. I work as hard as you.
I've met you all. This is what you look like:
The Clutz:
There’s the dude who is intent on standing six feet away from you, but that isn’t possible between the cashier and the customer the way the aisles are set up, so he’s backing up into the chewing gum we are selling in the small isle and he nearly knocks down all the gift cards. He doesn’t apologize but tries to pick up the cards but they slip out of his hands because he is wearing thick winter gloves. It’s a mess.
The Cat Man:
There’s the guy who won’t shut up but you can’t understand most of what he’s saying because he talks so fast with this mask on, you can tell he's spitting on his own face. From what you can pick up, he tells you about his dog and then you find out he has a cat and he watched the Netflix series, Tiger King, and now he’s having weird adoption fantasies. He buys ketchup and mustard and he looks so American that you wonder if those two items constitute a meal for him because the only other food he buys is dog and cat food. You don’t really want to know what that is about.
The Sanitizer:
Then there’s the woman who brings Clorox wipes with her and is wiping the groceries down as she puts them on the belt. She then sprays the random air around her with Lysol and looks as if she might spray you with it. She doesn’t speak, she has an N95 mask on and plastic gloves. She doesn’t make eye contact but wipes the credit card machine with a Clorox wipe before she inserts her credit card into it. She doesn’t say a word and she looks like she’s angry.
The Cat Lady:
Then there is the woman who is trying to buy four packs of toilet paper when there is clearly a sign that says you can only buy one. 'I have a big family,' she whispers. I don’t care, you want to say. Instead, you tell her it’s store policy. She grunts. She isn’t wearing a mask or gloves and doesn’t seem concerned about anything. 'But I went to three other stores and you are the only one that has toilet paper,' she sighs. I’m sorry, you say. How dirty is your ass that you need four packs? She also buys four packs of cat food. She just doesn’t look like she has a big family, she looks like she lives alone with a bunch of cats.
You:
Then there is you, you are a nice person. You want to be nice to me because you understand that I am risking my life to bag your groceries, so you offer to bag your own groceries. You try to look me in the eyes. You have never done that before and never given a second thought about me until just now. You say please and thank you. You think I should be grateful that you finally appreciate me. But you are glad you don’t have to do what I do, and when you get in your car you sigh a breath of relief. At least you don’t have to be in there all day, risking your life, for a little more than minimum wage.
You don’t know the first thing about me. I’m not doing this because I am a good person. I’m doing this because I have to. I don’t have a choice if I want to eat. You want to support me? Vote those bastards out who won’t give me healthcare and decent pay. Vote for someone who understands that without people like me, no one would have half the luxuries they have. Believe me, it is a luxury to be able to stay at home and not worry about where your next meal is coming from,
I don’t have that luxury.
So stop smiling at me as if I can see the smile underneath your mask. I know you are secretly wondering if I’m infected and will infect you. I’m wondering the same thing about you.
So you can save your thank yous. I’m OK with my life, even in this crisis and chaos. My life is difficult most of the time. Like I said, if you want to help me, think about who you are voting into office and if they even care that I exist. Most of them don’t know I exist. They have forgotten about us.
Just because I am suddenly visible to you, doesn’t erase the fact that I am usually invisible. I deserve better than this life. You can help me get what I deserve.
Think about that.
nina
I have been featured once again in a new blog called the Corona Chronicles...click here