00:00I never thought that I would be in a position that is considered on the front lines of
00:06anything warlike or a pandemic. My name is Jill. My job is a crew member at Trader Joe's. I work
00:14with customers helping you all find what you're looking for. I restock the shelves. I help you
00:21check out your groceries and bag for you. I'm about to head into my shift. I have my lunch packed.
00:27During COVID-19, I have continued to work full time. So at Trader Joe's, that's working an average
00:34of 30 hours a week. Our business has not cut hours. Anyone who wants to work can continue to work
00:40as often as they had been before the crisis happened. And people are also allowed to,
00:45if they're not feeling well, they can take as much time off as they need with no consequences. So the
00:51business is really trying to work with people and support us. Before this had all happened,
00:56I had been doing standup. I'm Jill Pesheznik. Pesheznik is Ukrainian for not Polish.
01:05And now all of my external outlets have closed. So I'm just trying to focus on how to make a
01:13show
01:14work online. Morning. This is Jill. I moved to LA to pursue writing and producing specifically in comedy.
01:22Just trying to reframe how I feel productive throughout the day. It no longer can include
01:29how many jobs I was applying to. All right, I'm on my way into work now. I can already see
01:35the line
01:36that is around my Trader Joe's. Just maintaining a distance in the line. People are instructed to stand
01:42six feet apart. As soon as hoarding became a problem and our shelves were empty, they limited the amount
01:49of customers that were allowed into our store and also the amount of items that any one person was
01:55allowed to buy that day. So that helped us be able to restock. And then as soon as we were
02:01restocked,
02:02our customers felt better and more relieved that they would be able to buy groceries. As far as what
02:08they've been doing for safety and health measures with crew, they've lifted their policy against
02:13wearing gloves at the register. So that helps crew members and customers kind of limit our exposure
02:20between touching, you know, their groceries and their bags. Just the stress of being in a higher
02:27exposed job. It makes me more tired. It makes me more anxious and paranoid. But how I deal with them
02:34is just prioritizing my health at home when I can and in good practice at my job. Continuing to work
02:42is important to me because I see what a big difference my presence is at the store. Customers are so
02:50appreciative that we continue to show up. We continue to do our jobs and do our jobs well. It's important
02:55to
02:55me also to be a part of the community at my store. I want to show up for my fellow
03:01crew members who
03:02are also showing up. Working at Trader Joe's has allowed me to be able to maintain a good routine
03:11and balance that I'm able to support myself while continuing to pursue my creative aspirations and
03:19what I came here to do. Being a part of what's considered an essential business put more meaning into
03:25the job that I do. In customer service there are a lot of things that stick with me even after
03:30I come
03:30home. One of the most hurtful things a customer has said to me before the crisis happened, he asked me
03:38if I had gone to college and I said I had and he said condescendingly, wow what a great career
03:44choice
03:44working here. It took away a lot of things I had been working toward personally and also just knowing that
03:50working in retail and coming back to the retail workforce wasn't my life's work but I knew in
03:57that moment for some people that's all they saw me as. And so now throughout this crisis there has been
04:02people coming back to me and saying well thank you so much for working today. Thank you so much for
04:08showing up to me. So I'm able to regain that sense of pride and I can hold on to those
04:14things and know that the job I'm doing is important.
04:17And even if it's not for forever that it still is a significant way to be spending my time.
04:23It is a meaningful way to be making money right now. I hope that people continue to respect service employees
04:31and retail workers as much as they have throughout this crisis. I hope that people no longer look down
04:38upon those jobs that they once saw as unskilled workers and now it is nationally recognized that
04:47when a crisis happens we are the ones who stay open. We are the ones who continue to show up.
04:53Providing groceries for the public is essential. I'm doing my part.
