A snapshot of my experience working in the grocery business
I spent 30 years of my life working in the grocery business. I began as a bagger at age 18, and left as a meat department manager at age 49. During that 30-year span, I worked with hundreds of people, interacted with countless customers, and learned a lot about myself in the process.
Some of those life lessons taught me how to be a better person. Others showed me just how horrible people can be toward each other. Through it all, I tried to keep a positive outlook. Trust me when I say that wasn’t easy. But no matter what happened, I always gave maximum effort.
If you’ve ever worked in that world, or any retail environment, then you can appreciate how much effort is truly required. While I can’t speak for everyone, and can only relate my experiences, I’m sure much of this will strike a chord.
1- Retail Workers are Criminally Underpaid
If you currently work in retail, this was probably the first point you expected to see. Facts are facts, after all. No matter how much experience you have in your position, and despite your years of service, you are most likely not being compensated enough for your efforts.
Has anyone ever been able to survive on $7.25 an hour?
Pay scales can vary by state of course, and differ by company, based on other factors, that much is true. Some companies pay employees more if the store is bigger, and in a heavily populated area. Others may have a larger budget due to their consistently high level of sales. I personally have no experience with unions, so it’s possible that overall, those workers are paid better than non-union.
But it’s not enough, especially considering what retail workers have to give up in order to make under a living wage.
2- The Work / Life Balance is Nonexistent
Remember that time you went to Walmart on Thanksgiving, because you’d forgotten something for the big meal? Everyone working in the store that day, from the guys stocking the shelves, to the managers wearing the walkies, didn’t want to be there.
“Then maybe they shouldn’t work in retail.” I’ve heard that one before, let me tell you.
But for a lot people who either didn’t go to college, or couldn’t find a job in their field, retail is the easiest field to get into. All you really need is a willingness to work, and the ability to pass a background check. Once you’re in, you become part of the machine.
That machine operates on birthdays, anniversaries, wedding dates, funeral dates, your kid’s first day at school, and yes, holidays. Missing time with family and friends is such an expected part of retail that workers accept it. It’s just part of the job.
3- You’re Expected to Be at Work…Period
Over the years, I worked through many snow rushes. The local weather people only had to say the S-word on TV, and the stores instantly filled up. I remember driving home after one such rush, struggling to see the road through the snow, when my car slid off the road and into a ditch.
Luckily I made it home that night. But bad weather wasn’t the worst of it.
I often worked sick, injured, while running a fever, and in such a depression that I was going to very scary places in my head. Three days after my sister passed away? You guessed it. I was back at work.
Truth be told, I never had anyone flat out say “you’ll be here when you’re scheduled or else.” But every time you miss, your coworkers have to pick up your slack. A combination of not wanting to let them down, and the knowledge of less money on your check means you go to work. That’s the reality.
4- Customers Leave an Impression, Positive and Negative
It’s easy to believe that employees working in a store just move on with the rest of their day after helping customers. That was the case most of the time for me, due to the workload I typically had during any given shift. But the truth is, customers make more of an impact than they may think.
Yes, that can be both good and bad.
I was friendly with an older customer who shopped in the store a few times per week. He was in his 70’s, and sounded like Robert De Niro in Goodfellas. We’d talk NBA, politics, or whatever was on his mind. I enjoyed our conversations, and my day always went by easier after talking to him.
Then there was the woman who spent 10 minutes berating me for ruining her Christmas Eve dinner because her pickup order wasn’t quite what she expected. I apologized, marked “no charge” on her order, then gave her another item for free as well. She complained about me to the store manager on the way out.
If nothing else, living in that world for so long taught me how to be patient.
I’m so patient now that despite what happens in a store, restaurant, or coffee shop, I don’t get rattled. I’m very aware of the struggles on the other side of the counter. Believe me, after 30 years of standing on that side, being patient requires no effort at all.
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