Just a post to say thank you to all the retail workers.

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

And no. This shouldn't in the CV topic because not everyone hangs out on there.

Anyways I'm aware it's a new start to a very hard week, and that whilst everyone else is flopping about panic buying and building their loo roll forts our retail workers etc are putting themselves at massive risk, handling thousands of people a day, often using public transport to get there and getting fuck all thanks. Some have been attacked and belittled but still go in each day to serve the ungrateful public. All of this with no protection, no masks, no gloves and the bleddy sangel has been stolen off a lot of tills (( my friend works in retail and has started having anxiety attacks as a result of all this. ))

Anyways, thank you. You are all appreciated.

People's rudeness seems to have multiplied by about 100 as well. My friend is manager in a smallish supermarket, and has been spat on because there's no loo roll, called all of the names under the sun, and shoved out of the way when a colleague was putting paracetamol out. People are scared, it doesn't entitle them to treat people like crap. I also think the expectation that they will all be expected in work when everywhere is on lockdown is harsh, even if necessary. They do an excellent job, and are one of those jobs where I think they get taken for granted a lot. I join you in saying thank you.

Yes! Having worked in retail myself I can only imagine how challenging it is right now. to you all! My daughter works in a shop two days a week but thankfully it’s fashion so hasn’t been crazy.

Well said. Everyone saying they can't get a home delivery slot, (because delivery drivers are immune or something) or complaining that they can't get their usual brand of pasta or whatever. They need to think of the people trying to sort this out.

Yes, totally agree. Our lovely Sainsburys delivery driver yesterday looked knackered and said people have been rude to him all day because of substitutions / unavailable items. So thank you retail workers and delivery drivers.

Also to the NHS workers who I imagine are rather up against it atm also

Yes absolutely. I understand that people are panicked but there’s absolutely no need to be rude. Kinda wish I had shopping delivered just so I could be extra nice to the delivery drivers right now.

And nurses/healthcare workers/medics in general, absolutely, thank you for being at the forefront now and every day.

Plus all the people behind the scenes that make hospitals and surgeries work!

DD works in a supermarket two days a week. She said yesterday was like Christmas week but without all the seasonal extra staff they have at Christmas. She said they had one home delivery for £750 - would have been more but they were out of stock of £150 worth of stuff on the order!

My dad works in small corner shop and he was saying yesterday that within 10 minutes delivery of loo paper or pasta it’s all gone and people are actually waiting around for deliveries...it’s absolute madness!

These are the people that will still be going to work when everyone else is being isolated.

This is quickly going to become the new normal. So hopefully it will all settle down fairly soon.

I’d also like to thank all the cleaners, HGV drivers, delivery drivers, farmers etc who can’t work from home but are doing essential work to keep this country ticking over. All of them are undervalued.

sparklingBrook exactly.

I know NHS staff work hard but I also think they automatically get some respect as NHS staff. Our retail workers are putting themselves at massive risk with no protection or strategies to keep them safe from the virus. If we go into lockdown theyre still expected to work. To have thousands of people milling around them. They aren't paid any extra for this, they're still on the poxy minimum wage.

And when this is allover theyre going to be straight back to barely scraping hours in on very low hour or zero hour contracts.

Completely agree OP

Retail workers in supermarkets are great. To the rude cow having a go at the cashier because she couldn’t get loo roll and suggested people be ID’d for it. Hang your head in shame. Do you really think that they have staff available for this. I told her she was being ridiculous and she stormed off stating that she was going to write to Head Office.

FanSpamTastic that's exactly what I said when I came home from work on saturday. It was like Christmas but with staff on holiday, no extra staff in, none of the extra back stock we would usually have for christmas. I'm only part time and I was exhausted. I really feel for my full time colleagues.

I am so grateful for no longer working retail. When I was I never had a winter where I wasn't going down with bug after bug because I'd been sneezed or coughed on.
Everyone working retail at the moment deserves a raise. A big one.

Agree 100% with you, OP, but I was surprised to hear my Ocado driver say that he was enjoying the boom.

He said because of the increase in deliveries, he was doing more deliveries in one concentrated area instead of having to drive all over London fighting traffic. That made me feel less guilty!

Yes, thank you, retail workers!

@HarrietTheShy that's a really good point actually, I wonder if there will come a time where you book a day and they allocate a slot depending on other deliveries to get more done by staying in the same area rather than back and forth.

As someone who works in retail - thank you!

I work at a supermarket and have just had a massive panic attack. I'm waiting for a phone back from the doctor to get some anti anxiety pills prescribed and then I will be off to work.
It's unrelenting at the moment and we are on our knees. When you add to that the worry that they may give you the virus it's pretty overwhelming.

@FanSpamTastic my dh works in one of the big supermarkets and that was exactly what he said. A re run of Christmas week with the number of people and the amount of stuff they were buying.

Dh works for a big supermarket. Our baby is due in a couple of weeks and I'm scared he's going to catch it and bring it home. He said people still have no respect for his personal space and are still touching him and getting close to his face when speaking to him.
Also disgusted to find out that a member of staff had called in sick with a cough but was told that they wouldn't be receiving sick pay unless they were diagnosed with corona. So member of staff then turned up for work because they have a family to feed, only to be sent home because they have symptoms.
You would think with all the extra money these big supermarkets have been making lately that they would want to look after their staff at a time like this but no.

I work in supermarket, admittedly only a few hours a week. I worked out I'm serving a minimum of 30 people an hour, handling shopping and money each time. I'm lucky as I'm on the till, not on the shop floor, as the shop floor workers are getting a lot of snotty customers. So far the only issue I've had is refusing to sell 4 packets of painkillers to one customer. She said one lot of tablets was for her daughter who couldn't get out so she was going to post her 2 and keep 2. From a safety point of view I can't sell her 4 packets and she was ok ish about it. The lady behind her offered to buy them for her so I had to explain I couldn't sell them to her either as she'd just said she'd give them to the lady I'd just refused! People are going mad.
I'm hand sanitizing and washing my hands as often as possible but touching money every minute is worrying, but I'm just getting on with it. Perhaps it's my face that stops people getting shitty with me, good!
Thank you for the support everyone, we really appreciate it. Might I add, if you see customers being unpleasant to staff, pull them up on it. It's difficult times but the staff are wary about answering back, we all need our jobs. Thank you.

As a retail worker - on the till - thank you. Thank you for thinking of us. I work in a very small rural local supermarket with a fantastic bunch of customers, but even they are getting a bit tetchy at the lack of toilet rolls and soap!

It's been, as a pp said. like Christmas in the shop the last few days. People are buying as though they are going to be encarcerated for months (maybe fair enough). I just wash my hands frequently, not sure that the hand santizer they've given us is worth the bother (not strong enough), but I've always washed my hands a lot when I've been on the till and managed to avoid colds and noro, so hoping to avoid this one!