Life During Lockdown: A Timeline Through the Eyes of Grocery Store Workers

Throughout the entirety of the pandemic, most of us were ordered to stay at home, while thousands of essential workers continued to go to work with the public and keep life moving for their communities. Working at Sprouts Farmers Market on the border of Long Beach and Lakewood, California, grocery store workers Dylan Hunter and Danielle Mathieson persevered through the once-challenging working conditions, adjusted to life as essential workers under Los Angeles County's safer-at-home orders, and are now able to showcase their smiling faces once again.

Working as an essential worker can be extremely challenging, as fear would start to build up around bringing the virus back home to their families. At the beginning of the pandemic, Danielle Mathieson, 24, recollects the first two weeks of lockdown. "There were people who were panic buying and stocking up on so much food, putting me at a higher risk of getting sick or bringing the coronavirus home," Mathieson said.

Although it was nerve-racking, many essential workers had put themselves at risk to maintain income during the pandemic. As millions of citizens lost their jobs, cashiers and grocery store workers felt appreciative of the chance to work and companies received overwhelming amounts of applications throughout the two years. For cashiers such as Mathieson, working at a grocery store was their only hope.

"Unfortunately I had lost my other restaurant job towards the beginning, so I was solely relying on working in a grocery store to pay my bills," Mathieson said. "But, gladly, our store gave their employees benefits to help us through the tough times"

To support their employees, Sprouts Farmers Market had benefits including potential pay raises, retirement plans, extended discounts, and paid time off. To further support their employees during the coronavirus outbreak, the grocery store introduced additional benefits to compensate essential workers for the hard work they do.

Not only did Sprouts Farmers Market act to help their employees financially, but the company served to protect them through following strict public health recommendations from the CDC; imposing policies that required wearing masks and gloves. The grocery store limited the number of customers that entered, required everyone to wear a face covering, and recommended consideration over the 6-foot markers to maintain social distancing. At one point, the company had also installed plexiglass barriers at check-out stands to separate the cashiers from the customers.

In response to the store policies, senior produce clerk Dylan Hunter, 21, believed that the changes were beneficial in slowing the spread of the virus among the employees. Yet, he had noticed that several customers started to become more confrontational over time and some refused to follow the guidelines.

"It was very overwhelming to encounter so many inconsiderate customers when you put yourself on the front line so the community can get what they needed to survive the pandemic," Hunter said. "I was tired of the lockdown as much as the next person, but it was necessary to follow these policies to stop the spread, and now we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Over time, the anxiety and stress with panic buying and lack of following guidelines lightened. When the vaccines became readily available for essential workers, both Mathieson and Hunter, along with most of their coworkers, got vaccinated to feel safer at work. Now, the spread has decreased, and Sprouts Farmers Market has lifted the majority of the guidelines within their store, including having to wear a face covering.

The world has gone through many changes over the course of the pandemic. As it feels as if life is slowly returning to normal, grocery store workers such as Mathieson and Hunter have a sense of relief but continue to emphasize the importance of staying safe and healthy.

"Working at Sprouts Farmers Market over the entirety of the pandemic created a community of essential workers that I am very appreciative of," said Hunter. "Now, we can finally establish faces to the many personalities we've encountered while working here, and more importantly, feel like we are going back to normal, to life before lockdown."