Costco Employee Shows What Store Workers See During The Coronavirus Outbreak

These are certainly trying times for every one of us. From worrying about your health to stressing over finances and prospects of the future, there are plenty of things to keep us in the negative. However, at least some of us get to sit this scary time out, either working in self-isolation or staying home. Others, unfortunately, don’t have such a choice. And while most think about doctors and nurses who work tirelessly taking care of the sick, we sometimes forget those that we run into the most. Retail workers.

As grocery stores remain open for people to get food and basic necessities, store employees are forced to brave the storm and go to work every day. One Arizonian recently took to Imgur to share some snippets of his daily life, offering a good perspective on what retail workers have to deal with these days. From customers asking about product shortages daily to shelves being wiped, the user named “idrawontape” gave a good glimpse into his routine.

Bored Panda reached out to “idrawontape” to get some additional information and he kindly replied with some comments. “I’ve worked at Costco for over 20 years,” he offered a brief background. “I stock in the early morning before we open. This is the 3rd warehouse I’ve worked in with Costco,” the employee said.

When asked what it’s like to work at a store during such a time, the man said that the customers are surprisingly nice: “t is weird, cause no matter how busy it’s gotten, everyone who comes shopping, most of them have been VERY friendly,” he said, “even when we sell out of an item, they are nice about it. the only time anyone gets grumpy is when they’ve been trying to get toilet paper for several days and they cant get it.” As for what customers are usually reaching for? “Water and toilet paper are the biggest sellers, but we have had points where we sold out of rice or milk, staple items that we normally would never run out of, but that’s how weird a time like this pandemic has been”.

We asked how did the people online respond to the photos and commentary shared and the employee said that most of the people reacted positively: “It’s been similar to people in person, who thank us for coming into work and helping keep the lines going speedily. Some replies to the pictures are that I’m encouraging hoarding by showing what is in the store, but besides that most are either employees from other Costcos or retail places that have to deal with the same amount of craziness”.

The man also provided some additional commentary on the overall situation for those who were curious:

“I will say that even the really long days that we’ve been experiencing, even with huge crowds, it’s been a rewarding time to work at Costco. My bosses and managers have been doing all they can to take care of us who stock early in the morning (bring us breakfasts, energy drinks, etc) and have been encouraging. Our store manager has been going above and beyond to help the members too, again because the members have been so polite and nice.”

“I know its weird to talk about a job and how it’s nice to work there, rewarding, etc. but it’s been so different than usual, it’s hard to really quantify how unusual things are, yet seeing how friendly everyone has been, it changes how you feel about things.”