How can I support grocery store workers?
March 28, 2020 1:52 AM   Subscribe

(Australia) I want to do something for our supermarket workers, who are currently working in horrible conditions, facing terrible treatment from the public, and putting their health at risk every day. I've been trying to think of what they might need other than kindness, and am coming up blank. Would love to hear your suggestions.
posted by anonymous to Human Relations (21 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Handing them stuff isn't the best idea right now, I'm sure you've realised this. So I think that you are correctly coming up blank: there really isn't anything.
I think the best thing you can do is to follow their instructions to the letter, with a smile, and if you have the chance to speak to them, say something like 'Thank you for being here'.
posted by Too-Ticky at 3:43 AM on March 28, 2020 [3 favorites]


Last week one asked me how I was doing and I answered honestly, "Terrified," and she launched into a pitch perfect, practical, and very gentle but also fast so she didn't delay the person behind me mini-counseling session for which I was immensely grateful, and I hope I said so but even if I didn't, I know I showed so because my heartrate dropped immediately and I left smiling. This week when they ask, I'm just going to say "All I am feeling right now is proud of you and glad to see you and so, so grateful that you are here" and then get out of their way.
posted by Don Pepino at 4:01 AM on March 28, 2020 [7 favorites]


Back the RAFFWU.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:14 AM on March 28, 2020 [7 favorites]


Other than kindness? Kindness may be the biggest thing you can do. One act of kindness can be a refreshing act in a sea of d*****baggery.

It's been years since I've been an assistant grocery store manager, but it wasn't too uncommon for employees to occasionally bring treats for the break room. Most of the workers enjoyed when this happened and it really brightened the day, more than you would expect.

Ask a manager about it. There are a lot of individually wrapped treats, chips, candy bars, etc., where you could safely buy them and have them put up in the break room, and you could arrange for that to happen without ever touching them if you talked to a manager.
posted by jgreco at 4:38 AM on March 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


I have also been thinking about this, and was wondering if there is something bigger we could do (as well as thanking people individually), to improve their working conditions in the immediate moment and long term.

Write to the CEOs of the grocery stores demanding they pay their employees better? Contact your elected officials about raising the minimum wage and improving their job security? I have no idea how a non-involved person could support the unionization effort, but that would probably be good too.

If anyone has advice on what might be effective and helpful, I'd love to hear it.
posted by EllaEm at 5:12 AM on March 28, 2020 [3 favorites]


Political support is one thing you can attempt. Contact their company and your various level of government urging additional financial and legislative support, such as subsidies, sick leave, additional hiring, protective equipment, enforced social distancing, priority medical care, child care, reduced shift length without reduced take home pay, etc.

Social support is another thing you can attempt. Organize any public gestures of support you can, from the micro level of the chalk message on the sidewalk and sharing memes, to getting other people to do rounds of applause, or song, or joining a how do we help our grocery and supply chain workers volunteer group that does more tangible things, like pay for the gas in their cars or does virtual tutoring or social enrichment for their kids over the computer, or provides tents for the ones living in their garages to avoid infecting family members. Try to establish a one-customer-comes-out so now-another-customer-can-go-in practice at your local stores to help keep the social distancing in possible. Coordinate with people in your neighbourhood when to shop, and encourage the practice of planning to either abort a trip and or to wait outside until it is less crowded.

If you can make this movement to support our grocery store workers highly visible, it will be accepted as closer to the norm than getting into a workers face and screaming at her with accusations that she should have enforced limits on buying and didn't. You want most people to be thinking, "Everybody thinks that grocery store workers are saints and people who are mean to them are terrible people," so they scrupulously treat them well and avoid infecting them merely to avoid the disgust of strangers and spread that view. There will still be people who panic and do terrible things the way that people drowning will never be entirely safe to approach closely in deep water, but you will reduce the number of people who think everyone else is blaming the workers for the shortages so it must be true.
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:24 AM on March 28, 2020 [3 favorites]


I’ve found that simply and genuinely asking my grocery checkers and baggers how they’re doing seems to work wonders. Each time I’ve done so they seem SO appreciative that someone is actually SEEING them. My grocery chain also provides an online survey opportunity—link is on each receipt—and I’ve been filling those out with specific info about who I interacted with. One of the grocery managers once told me that those reviews go into the workers files and they qualify for bonuses and other rewards for positive comments.
posted by bookmammal at 5:35 AM on March 28, 2020 [5 favorites]


I've made a point of saying to any supermarket worker I encounter "Thank you for working, so we can all keep supplied" and they've pretty much all done a double take and given me a big smile. I assumed everyone would be saying that, but it seems not, and my remarks stood out. I guess everyone shopping is so consumed with their own worries about what they can buy, whether they're safe, that they're forgetting to think outside themselves and thank the staff (I mean... to be fair, I live alone, seeing a supermarket worker and talking to them at a safe distance is literally the only IRL interaction I have with anyone from one week to the next right now, so it's not an entirely selfless move...)

And yes, more structural things around pay and conditions are probably bigger wins overall.
posted by penguin pie at 8:39 AM on March 28, 2020 [3 favorites]


The store I pick up groceries from always has the worker verbally walk through the list of every item they were out of or had to provide a substitute for; I know it's not much but I've been telling the person who helps me that she doesn't need to do that, in the hopes that even saving that minute or so will be useful. Like others, I've also made a point of asking how they're doing but otherwise trying to make our interactions as quick as possible, as they've been swamped. And I'm trying to make sure I get people's names so I can call them out specifically in the feedback I'm sending in to the store. I wish I could do more, and love the idea of supporting the RAFFWU, so thank you for asking this question!
posted by DingoMutt at 10:51 AM on March 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


Hi, I work at a grocery store and yes things are very different right now. I am fortunate that my company has handled the pandemic with integrity and has policies and practices in place that allow me to do my job safely and to keep you safe too. I hear people say thank you all the time. They thank me for beimg here, for being open, for having their favorite music playing, for keeping people 6 feet away from each other while in line. You name it, I've been thanked for it.
I'm over it. It's not that I'm not glad to hear that I've made someone's day, but it rings super hollow when they are only buying 3 non-essential items. Thank yous mean nothing when you shop everyday. I understand that not everyone has the ability to get a weeks worth of groceries in one trip, I really do. But you're killing me slowly. My job is no longer putting food on a shelf, it's being your only social contact in uncertain times and it's draining and daunting and the reason I feel like vomitting everytime I walk through the door.
Last night as we were closing a group of 4 women in their 60s came to the front of the store with large thank you signs and cheered us on. I'm sure they had good intentions and wanted to feel like they were lifting our spirits. Instead I had to hold back a scream. WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU MAKE A SPECIAL TRIP TO A HIGH RISK AREA, ARE YOU INSANE?! STAY HOME, STAY SAFE, STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HERE UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!!
Please thank your grocers by making your trips to the store count, don't waste our time and VERY limited resources for social visits.
I appologize if this is not what you are looking for, but this is what I am looking for from our customers.
posted by carnivoregiraffe at 11:53 AM on March 28, 2020 [19 favorites]


OK for the avoidance of doubt, I am going once a week max to buy what I absolutely need and saying one brief sentence to acknowledge any staff I encounter in the process, I'm not trying to make these people my friends, nor am I going there for social contact. Glad your company's dealing with it well, carnivoregiraffe, hope you stay safe.
posted by penguin pie at 12:52 PM on March 28, 2020


My local groups have started tabs at the cafes close to grocery stores for any workers in uniform to get a free coffee. It supports two businesses at once and is a nice way of showing support (same goes for hospital cafes).
posted by geek anachronism at 2:20 PM on March 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


Exasperated grocery store worker here, and I'd LOVE for a regular customer to run interference for me. I'd love someone to tell another customer, "Hey, she's working to get the meat in the case, how about you step back that six feet we're supposed to do?" "Hey, you probably didn't notice the directional arrows on each aisle, to keep people from meeting face to face? Yeah, it'd make a difference if you followed the directions." Of course this would probably work if the customer running interference was a big and possibly scary individual, but hey.............

I do appreciate the thank yous; I'm tired of people in masks and gloves who thing nothing of reaching over me to get a package of chicken off the shelf. I'm tired of feeling invisible, so I am grateful when someone recognizes my hard work.

That actually felt nice to get off my chest, thank you!
posted by annieb at 3:27 PM on March 28, 2020 [8 favorites]


Yeah I was feeling exactly the same way. But I didn't want to directly say anything to people in shops, because I was afraid I might trigger someone into feeling worse, melting down or crying.

So last week I sent emails to the corporate offices of all the services I normally use or would consider using (Amazon, WholeFoods, Target, Grubhub, Seamless, Mercato, DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft, Drizly, plus a bunch of local places) asking them questions about what they were doing to support the safety of their front-line people. E.g., were they providing masks and gloves and hand sanitizer, were they offering low contact or no contact working conditions, were they encouraging people to not work if sick, were they providing paid sick leave and did they require proof of infection for it, etc. I did it because their answers would inform the decisions I'd be making, and also to try to express that it is something their customers care about.

About a third replied. What I found really striking about their replies was that literally all of them were 100% couched as though I was asking about customer safety. Even though I had specifically framed my mail in terms of worker protections. Like, in response to my question about no contact, they would tell me how they had added that as an option for customers. In response to my question about letting sick workers stay home they would kind of sanctimoniously say they do, but then they would ignore the question about paid leave.

I found that dispiriting. Like, yes, they are for-profit companies, and our relationship is a transactional one. But it felt like they couldn't even imagine a world in which we are all also just people, in which their customers might care about the health and well-being of others, as a desirable thing in and of itself.

But anyway .. that's what I did. I'm sure it didn't have any/much effect, but I felt like it was worth trying just in case :/
posted by Susan PG at 4:18 PM on March 28, 2020 [2 favorites]


Tangent but similar; I'm at an essential home improvement store. Everything else is closed so we are swamped (we ran out of carts today.) There is nothing even essential that people are buying. I would love for people to stay home and not spread the virus and make us sick. But that's not something that you can do.

I cannot think of anything a customer can do to make our warzone better. If management will not institute an "x" person limit on numbers of shoppers, then our unofficial entertainment complex is open for the weekend disney adventure treatment. We workers are a lost cause. Our store manager has remarked that there are always more cashiers available to hire. You cannot really counter that. Just being nice and non-demanding is wonderful; but it will not make you feel like you made a difference (but even that wee bit is great.)

While you are one of the rare good customers, there are massive amounts of other customers who expect that we are there to serve their personal needs. We are overwhelmed with customers and just trying to survive the long hours. Our breakroom is a mess. Nobody cleans it. We don't even have a picnic table outside for retreat. We have no PPE unless we buy our own (although management would disagree if asked.)


carnivoregiraffe above has it spot on. Be unobtrusive; in and out and let us get our job "never" done. (And we are not allowed to wear our vests out of the store, so our local shops would not be able to give us a discount on anything.)

We always will need your loyal patronage, but realize we are under attack from so many fronts that we are not able to do much more than get our job done. And corporate cares only about metrics, not employees.

After we all survive this; then you can maybe organize a neighborhood group to.... wash our cars or something else we don't have time to do. Now, that would be awesome.
posted by mightshould at 5:09 PM on March 28, 2020 [2 favorites]


"...all of them were 100% couched as though I was asking about customer safety."
Yes. Every single unsolicited e-mail in the tide of unsolicited e-mails I've received from corporate dickwads was about my safety. Nothing about the employees unless it was some company that sent at least three e-mails, and then in the third they'd grudgingly get around to mentioning the most important thing, that "of course, we pay sick leave." Right. "Of course" you do. Nothing tops the one my boyfriend got from Cracker Barrel assuring him they were cancelling community chess and taking the golf tee games off the tables and hiring more people to swab the store and to come on down! So you're packing MORE poorly paid, abysmally treated, no-sick-leave-having people into your space, and this is "for my safety?"

Retail people reading this, I'm not shopping for me: I'm shopping for elderly parents who will otherwise cram into stores themselves and blither haplessly around laying their hands on every surface and not staying 6 feet from anyone.

I go to exactly two places per week, both on Saturday. I go to the farmers' market (nightmare last week; this week I had the sense to go an hour before closing, when it's deserted) and one grocery store per week for whichever parent has been expressing needs. I go to No Other Stores or any other place other than my house and outside: that one Saturday store trip is it, and I try like mad to get out as quickly as I can. I also go home between the store and the farmers' market and do a hazmat routine (strip, shower, wash everything) so that, in the happy eventuality that I'm not carrying the virus in my viscera, I'm doing all I can to not schlep lethal virus particles from the store to the farmers' market or vice versa on my hands or clothes. I'm buying large wads of whatever my parents are asking for so that with luck I'll be able to stop with going to stores because it's harrowing. I have so much bullshit to eat in my house it's ridiculous. I used to love the grocery store, but now I would really like not to go shopping for the foreseeable future.
posted by Don Pepino at 5:39 PM on March 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


I’m an Australian supermarket worker and while I certainly appreciate your motivation the main thing I want from customers at the moment is for them to, as much as possible, not be there. Keep visits as infrequent and as brief as you can, many people seem to be using the supermarket now as an ‘acceptable’ outing because they’re tired of staying home, and using me as surrogate social contact, which is understandable but anxiety provoking. Going to work is already scary, and the “heroic service workers going to work so we can have groceries” narrative I’m seeing on social media, though it’s coming from a good place, bothers me because I feel like it misses the point that many/most of us are doing it because we don’t really have a choice. It even makes me a little angry that our employers and many of our customers seem to see our health and well-being as dispensable. So honestly the kindest things you can do - make essential trips only, observe the social distancing guidance, don’t try and hang around for an extended chat with staff. If you’re confident to do so it is appreciated if you speak up if you see staff being abused, though, which is happening all too often at the moment.
posted by lwb at 6:55 PM on March 28, 2020 [8 favorites]


I know it breaks AskMe guidelines but I don’t think it breaks the spirit of the rules to chime in and say that the comments from grocery store workers here are moving and important to hear, and this thread should be sidebarred.

27 years ago I spent 6 months as a grocery stocker. Mad respect. May your stores be empty.
posted by spitbull at 8:00 PM on March 28, 2020 [4 favorites]


It is hard and messy and will not provide immediate relief, but the answer is political pressure. Support workers, and when companies and their paid-for politicians ask for your support look for the dagger in their hand. The situation we are in owes much to an entire economic system that does not value human beings, and is utterly bereft of moral conscience.

Echoing the sentiment to not be there unless it is essential. I do not want to chat. Really. Every day at work right now is a howling void of misery and anxiety. Is today the day I bring it home? Can I take my mother toilet paper without killing her? What if I'm one of the lucky under 40s who dies from it? You don't want to hear this stuff, and it won't make me feel better to talk about it, so please do not ask. I do not want to be thanked, either, because I'm not doing it to help people; I'm doing it because I have bills and the government will not help me.

Write the corporations. They absolutely do not listen to us, but enough customer pressure might result in at least token measures. Blast them on social media if they are doing a bad job looking after their people.
posted by the liquid oxygen at 11:06 AM on March 29, 2020 [6 favorites]


Write the corporations. They absolutely do not listen to us

Well, no, and they don't listen well full stop, but that's still an excellent idea. I wrote my locally owned small independent grocery just now on the theory that maybe they will listen. They were doing a few boneheaded things yesterday and I told them I wouldn't go back 'til they stopped. All stores in the county are mandated to allow only 20 customers in the store at a time and to make everybody in line stand six feet apart and include signage to encourage social distance in the store and at checkout. They did all that. But:

1. They have like six or eight checkout lines, and they normally staff only half of them. It was exactly like usual yesterday, with the lines at the front of the store staffed and the ones at the back closed. Why weren't they leaving every other line dark? They had the first half staffed just as usual. So everybody's all crammed together when they reach the pay station: checker, customer, checker, with not two feet between the customer and the checker behind and in front of the customer.

2. They had workers stocking with customers in the store. Stocking should be done after hours. If the store's too small to make that work, then they can let all the customers drain out, close the store for 20 minutes or so, and do a stocking blitz for the hard-hit areas.

3. Most idiotic, they had doorpeople on the entry and exit doors, fine. But the guy on entry was standing inside the store manipulating the door so that each customer he ushered in had to squeeze between him and the doorjamb. That means for his entire shift every single person that comes into the store gets within a foot of him, just a-breathing away, all in the poor guy's face. I made him back up, and he was like, "Huh?" So clearly nobody else had done that. And he had barely enough space TO back up and not nearly six feet because the place is tiny. The demon Publix, by contrast, had their door person stand outside far from the line and just use simple voice commands to keep people away from one another and the hell away from the door 'til somebody exited. It seemed to be working and it seemed (relatively) safe.
posted by Don Pepino at 1:46 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]


Picking up groceries curbside at my local supermarket the other day, I popped the trunk from inside the car, as one is supposed to do, but before leaving home I'd written a heartfelt thank you note on a nice card, and put a $25 tip inside, and taped it to the trunk with "To the Kroger Employee Loading my Car" written on the the envelope so they'd know to take it. I know it isn't much, but I hope they realized how much I appreciated and valued their work. I'll do this every week when I go now.
posted by nantucket at 8:13 PM on March 29, 2020 [2 favorites]


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