Hal was at work that day and on his break when the announcement was being made. We spoke briefly on the phone just after the announcement was made, and then he went back to work. When he came home that evening, he recounted to me story after story of just what that chaos looked like where he works and in other stores in the area.
For me, the result of the government's announcement was an incredible sense of heaviness and despair knowing that our entire schedule would change once again. Our daily schedule depends a great deal on Hal's work schedule, which currently depends almost entirely on the curfew, so every yo-yo change to the curfew requires us to readjust and, since we had just gone through that a few weeks ago, I wasn't looking forward to doing it again.
For others, the result of the announcement was apparently uncontrollable amounts of frustration and anger, even to the point of rage.
In the pharmacy where Hal works, they had to deal with customer after customer yelling at an employee because the customer couldn't find the product they wanted or needed, even when it was sometimes just a bit farther down the aisle or there was a very simple solution to finding it. In the pharmacy down the street, such chaos erupted in the Canada Post outlet that the store manager had to close it completely for the evening. The manager from that store then walked down the street to talk to the manager of the store where Hal works to see if the same thing was happening there. Sadly, it was...
The incident that Hal and his co-workers had to deal with that day that reduced me to tears, several times - when I first heard it and every single time I retell it, was the one that involved Nathan (not his real name).
Nathan is about 15 years old, he just started working at the store, and this is probably his first job ever. Thursday is the day that the store receives its weekly order, so there's a lot of stock to be unpacked and put away. Nathan was on the floor in one of the aisles restocking the shelves when a man in his 30s walked into the aisle and started yelling at him. Hal heard the yelling, dropped what he was doing, and went to see what was going on. When Hal got to the aisle, a 6'3" man was yelling and pointing his finger at Nathan, who is about 5'3", while Nathan hung his head and shrunk back. Hal immediately put himself in between Nathan and the man, gently pushed Nathan back, and asked Tiffany (not her real name) to take Nathan downstairs through the elevator and to call the store manager.
After the store manager talked to Nathan, he went upstairs to deal with the man. Hal was still in the aisle with the man, essentially keeping him from going elsewhere in the store. The store manager came into the aisle behind Hal and told the customer to get out of the store or he would call the police. The cosmetics manager, who was nearby and had heard the commotion, picked up her cell phone, punched 9-1-1 on the keypad, and asked the store manager if she should call. The man decided at that point that he would leave the store and they escorted him out.
Nathan was pretty shaken up, so the store manager called Nathan's mom and asked her to come pick him up. When she arrived, the store manager walked Nathan out of the store to his mom's car and briefly spoke with her before they drove away.
I was so angry when Hal told me this story. A grown man in his 30s essentially verbally assaulted a 15-year old worker in a store. It is never acceptable to assault or abuse any employee of any store, but hearing about what that man did to a terrified teenager is just heartbreaking. The store should really press charges against that man.
After I recounted the story to a friend the next day, I said that I hoped that Nathan remembered how Hal, Tiffany and the store manager had protected him and taken care of him, and not what the man had done. Hal told me that day when he got home from work that Nathan had come back to work. When the store manager saw Nathan, he told him that he didn't have to be there if he didn't want to be (which is also what he had told Nathan's mom the evening before when she came to pick him up).
Nathan's response to the store manager was that he had wanted to go to work that day because he felt safe and protected there. (cue the tears again) Tiffany was standing nearby and, when she heard Nathan's response, was so moved that she started to cry and had to run into the employee room to get a kleenex.
Hearing that part of the story brought tears to my eyes again. I am so glad that Nathan did remember how his co-workers had protected him and taken care of him and that he felt safe returning to work. That says a lot about that work environment and the camaraderie and support that the staff of that store receive from each other, even through all the craziness and chaos that they have had to deal with over and over again throughout the past year.
In some cases, the pandemic has brought out the worst of people. In other cases, like in a pharmacy in Montreal, the pandemic has brought out the best of people and banded them together in a team that always stands by, looks out for, and protects each other.
1 comment:
I am glad the young man felt supported by the people at his workplace. He will take that good example and be positive with others as he grows older.
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