Nervous customers, empty shelves, huge demand – supermarket employees have a particularly difficult job in the corona crisis. They ensure that the supply of the population is ensured even in difficult times. Chancellor Angela Merkel even mentioned her in her address to the nation: "Let me also express my thanks to people who are thanked too rarely. Those who sit at a supermarket checkout or fill shelves these days are doing one of the hardest jobs Thank you for being there for your fellow citizens and literally keeping the store going. "
Farina Kerekes, 30, works at the cash register in a supermarket in the Ruhr area. in the star-Interview reports on her experiences in the past few days and hopes that the appreciation will also be reflected in higher pay.
Interview with supermarket cashier: "The mental strain is very high"
Ms. Kerekes, what went through your head when you heard Angela Merkel's words?
I heard the speech on the way back from work on the radio and at first thought: Thank you! It is nice that we are mentioned once.
Do you feel this appreciation in your everyday work?
Meanwhile. There are more and more people who thank us, customers have brought us flowers and sweets. This is really nice. Some even describe my colleagues and me as heroines. Otherwise we are often treated with condescension, especially by men. On the one hand, I think it's good that we get some appreciation from the public, on the other hand, I hope that it doesn't just stay that way.
What would you wish for
A "thank you" is not enough for me. I want the gender pay gap to finally disappear. It simply cannot be that men in comparable occupations earn 20 percent more money. These are some kind of armchair bumps that do financial business that you can now tell that they are actually irrelevant to keep the store going. In retail, in particular, only a few companies pay according to the tariff. We really do a hard, exhausting job, even if many don't believe it yet. Now you can see that we are systemically important. And it cannot be that people who have sat at the till or filled up shelves for 40 years later end up in old age poverty because they only earn a minimum wage.
The Germans have been storming into the supermarkets for about a week and a half to prepare for possible quarantines and curfews. What experiences have you had during this time?
I have had to listen to a lot of stories that people urgently need to buy toilet paper and will soon run out. It is simply not enough, there are too many people who suddenly need toilet paper. And the toilet paper was just the beginning. Now diapers and baby food are gradually sold out, which is of course dramatic. Many also don't understand what a normal household amount is. Recently I had a customer at the cash register who wanted to buy a whole box of toothpaste. Sometimes there is a dispute between customers.
Many people are afraid that at some point the shelves will be completely empty. Is that justified?
With us everything is normal, we even get more toilet paper than normal. There is no reason to buy hamsters. Especially since it always means that others get nothing. And these are mostly, for example, older people or those who have to work now and cannot go shopping. That simply does not work.
How do you perceive the workload right now?
There is a lot going on in our shop, just like before Christmas. The mental load is very high: every customer wants to talk about why the shelves are empty and how bad it all is. It gets really annoying at some point.
Are you afraid of being infected with such direct customer contact?
I'm not really scared, but I'm careful. We ask people to pay by card if possible, but only a few do. Many also do not know what an appropriate distance is. I then take a step back and they take another step towards me. But that was also the case before. Some customers come very close to an employee from behind, hold their heads over their shoulders and ask something.
During this time your profession gets some public attention. As customers, what can we learn from this, even after the corona virus?
Quite simply a normal, solidarity with each other. The cashier always says "hello" at the checkout and smiles – and nothing comes from the customers. You don't have to have a dialogue, a "hello" or a small smile would be enough.
This article was originally published on stern.de.