I typed out the following in response to that comment on a different sub. I was crying by the time I finished. I almost just hit the X, but decided it should go somewhere. I don't know that it'll really even get seen. But here ya go, a perspective from someone who has been a “non-medical frontline essential worker” through the whole thing. (yes, I need a vacation. yes, I'm working with a psychiatrist) – – –
Seriously. I've worked in customer service for decades. I've always truly loved my current job (customer service retail) pre-covid (with the exception of a couple of bumps, been there a little over 11yrs). I'm currently more than double minimum wage & get good benefits.
Since covid though. Yikes. I don't speak for everyone, but I speak for many- I'm burnt out. I'm exhausted all the time. We stayed open, we came in, you needed your essentials. We asked you to help keep us healthy, we asked you to wear masks. We got spat at, called names, assaulted in some cities. Which person would get me sick? Would I bring it home to my family? ~btw, my older sister was dx'd with & died from brain cancer between Aug '20- April '21~ How much time could I even spend with my family? I saw co-workers get sick. One is now a post stroke victim who will never be the same. I heard of workers in other stores dying. We were so short staffed some weeks.
The customers. They still want full service. They want to tell us their conspiracy theories. They want to downplay our safety precautions. (must be nice when going out is a choice, not a means to your mortgage) They want their products in. How do grown adults not understand “global pandemic”? Yes, there are worker shortages. Yes, there are import delays. No, throwing a fit won't get it here faster. No, I really don't care to hear your political opinions about it. We hire on at at least $13/hr +benefits. (really good for this area) We're hiring people, we're having more turnover than I've ever seen.
Not gonna lie, in between it all, I had a total mental health crash. It's taking a while to get the meds figured out. My Dr tells me that the mental health care community is seeing a lot of this from Drs & front line workers. People who've done this for years & are fairly unshakable are getting shook.
So, yeah. “they need to hire more people”. Or we need a better breed of customer. Because, I don't blame people for wanting to take jobs that don't expose them to this. At this point, I'm mostly coming in for the people I work with & the hope that something will get better soon. But, honestly, I'd probably take a dollar or two less about now to get out of the “customer service” gig.