Floor marks and plexiglass shield at Save-On-Foods. (Image Credit: Facebook, Save-On-Foods)

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Who knew grocery-store cashiers would become an essential service?

Mar 28, 2020 | 6:55 AM

AS I SIT HERE pouting in self isolation, I’m cheered, even inspired, by the heroes of the pandemic.

We always think of doctors and nurses as the heroes, and they certainly are, but the unsung ones are the many who keep working to keep us going.

Such as grocery store cashiers. I have my issues with cashiers at times, but right now I have nothing but admiration for them. All those folks who stock the shelves and do whatever else has to be done to keep us supplied, fed and healthy must be recognized as well. Truck drivers, delivery service folks and pharmacists are among them. The long list of essential services released by the provincial government a couple of days ago includes the obvious — healthcare services such as hospitals, doctors, social workers and counsellors.

It also includes police, firefighters, court services, bylaws officers, emergency management personnel, food banks and water system operational staff.

Then there’s a host of services under transportation, infrastructure and manufacturing, such as taxis, vehicle rentals, auto mechanics. And communications personnel including media outlets. Mortuary services are also deemed essential; let’s hope their services aren’t needed too often. Trades people, exterminators, laundromats, postal services, weather forecasters — the list goes on, with many we might not have thought of as essential, at least not in normal times.

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And then there’s the grocery stores and related businesses “engaged in the retail sale or provision of food, pet or livestock supply, liquor, cannabis (including producers) and any other household consumer products, such as cleaning and personal care products.”

Which is where the grocery-store cashiers come in. They stand out because of the number of people they interact with all day long. I haven’t interacted with one for a few days but the last time I did they were going at it in their usual cheerful way. (The grumpy ones are probably still grumpy; life does go on. But there are a lot of really good ones.)

They’re the epitome of people who didn’t sign up for this but who carry on because it’s their job. Sure, some of them are getting a few extra bucks from their employers in appreciation but they earn every penny. Their stress level must be through the roof right now.

Other cashiers, such as those at drug stores, need a pat on the back, too, but the grocery store folks have hundreds of shoppers pass in front of them every day. They’re the poster cashiers.

Meanwhile, here in isolation land, I and the dog grow stir crazy. Fortunately, the acreage affords an ample venue for several long walks a day. As soon as we get in from one, he’s ready for another.

Every couple of days the two of us hop in the truck and drive down the road to the community mailbox a couple of klicks away. I open the window so he can stick his snout into the wind as I listen to the latest homage to Trump on Fox News. I call this a coronavirus outing. When we get home I carefully scrub my hands, lest COVID-19 has hitched a ride on the mail. I don’t know if it travels via Canada Post but I’m following Dr. Bonnie Henry’s orders.

I’m tired of COVID-19. Tired of thinking about it, tired of hearing and reading about it. And yet there’s a radio or TV on every waking hour, during which I obsessively flip between the Canadian and American news networks looking for COVID-19 coverage, like a starving man begging for scraps.

Why am I on self-imposed lockdown? Because I came down with a mild cold as the new week was about to get underway. This isn’t a man cold; it hardly has a right to call itself a cold at all but under Dr. Henry’s new normal I have a responsibility to stay away from others until it’s done, so here I am.

It’s fun hearing from other shut-ins with their ideas about how to get through a couple of weeks of isolation. Get the yard work done, they say. Read a good book. Fix that dripping tap.

I don’t have time for any of that. I’m too busy trying to figure out how to take a video of my next editorial on my cellphone and get it into the station. My efforts so far look like I’m Dracula rising from the crypt, but I keep trying. My rural Internet, which moves at the speed of a glacier, took two hours to upload the last attempt.

But back to the cashiers. The grocery stores are doing everything they can to protect both staff and customers. Several have installed plexiglass shields at their cash registers as sneeze guards between cashiers and shoppers. One of them is Save-On-Foods in Sahali where a case of the virus is associated with the pharmacy.

When I do break out of here, and go looking for Lysol wipes and paper towels, I’m going to make a point of saying thanks to whichever cashier rings me through.

Just to let them know they’re essential.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.