RealLife
Keyworkers Flags, banners, pictures and posters emblazoned with rainbows and messages of thanks were proudly displayed in windows, gardens, along roadsides, and on clothing, to name but a few. Along with a weekly Thursday night clap for critical workers, when we banged on saucepans, blew whistles, and made as much noise as we could, they gave us a chance to show our genuine gratitude to the keyworkers. These were the 10 million or so UK workers who were on the frontline – keeping the country going during the COVID crisis. Health and social care workers, supermarket staff, transport and food industry workers, school and nursery staff were all included in this list of workers crucial to helping our new daily lives continue. And during the uncertainty of the pandemic, one thing did become clear – those who tended to be in the lower wage brackets were the ones most needed during the outbreak.
B
ack towards the beginning of March, we watched in utter bemusement and horror as shoppers cleared store shelves by bulk buying
and stock piling. And here’s a startling statistic – according to convenience store manager Rachel Brown, on the Monday before Lockdown, she sold 110 four-packs of toilet roll in just six
Rachel wearing her visor, ready for work. 22 | SIMPLY BOSTON | www.simplyboston.co.uk
hours. That equates to more than one toilet roll purchased per minute! And at one point, sales of milk virtually tripled! To keep up with customers’ increased shopping needs, Rachel saw her working week increase rapidly too. She went from working a weekly minimum of 40 to 45 paid hours, to a minimum of 45 to 50 paid hours to keep up with demand. On top of this, Rachel lent a hand to a COVID support group, to help collect shopping and prescriptions and so on for those who were not able to go out and about, and spent her days off trying to find educational activities to enjoy with her young family. Rachel and her team at the shop pulled out all the stops to ensure it was business as usual, but she remains modest, and said, ‘I was just going to work and doing my job. I really wasn’t doing anything special.’ But as coronavirus, and trying to prevent its spread, gripped hold of the nation, Rachel’s job began to look very different. She told us, ‘as a store, we used approximately 50 more staff hours a week to try and keep up, and manage social distancing in store. ‘We noticed the panic buying about a week and a half before Lockdown. By the time Lockdown started, our shelves were pretty empty. The supply of fresh food recovered quite quickly, and milk would have been fine too, if people had shopped sensibly. But on the Monday when Lockdown was announced, we sold 220 2-litre cartons of semiskimmed milk, compared to a normal Monday, when I would have sold 80!’ Despite best efforts, other food
staples were also hard to get hold of. Rachel told us, ‘the week before Lockdown, bread supply was poor because of increased demand. Fortunately, on the first Monday that schools were closed we were able to supply the local school with bread, and also a care home across the road from our shop. ‘As soon as it was announced pubs would close, that evening beer sales went crazy! ‘Ambient goods took a lot longer to return. For about three months, getting flour was really difficult, and baking products in general were in short supply, including caster sugar, icing sugar and baking powder. ‘Cereal was also a big problem, as more people were at home for breakfast.’ As you would expect, Rachel and her team saw many more customers through their doors as panic buying hit. But as the situation calmed down, so did the number of shoppers – although Rachel explained that the amount customers were spending per visit increased. And although we will always have memories of the images of empty shelves, and of having to eat what had been sitting at the back of our cupboards while we waited for things to get a little more back to normal, we will always remember how people pulled together as well. And Rachel emphasised this too, saying, ‘I noticed a lot of people shopping for others, which was really nice to see.’ Grateful customers and heartwarming responses to her hard work
