Across the nation, COVID-19 has left many Americans jobless; however, several MHS students have managed to find and keep jobs during the pandemic. While some students are fortunate enough to work from the comfort of their homes, other students have jobs that require them to mask-up and face the world.
Junior Christopher Hodang works at Pizza California answering phone calls, serving food, and washing dishes. In his opinion, the pandemic has made working in the foodservice industry easier because the flow of customers is controlled. Limited capacity and other regulations help Hodang feel safe at work, he said.
“Everyone wears masks and everything, so I feel fine,” Hodang said in a Zoom interview. “For the register, they have a [screen] where you can’t get through, and there’s no indoor dining now because of the new purple tier, and we have outdoor seating. It’s pretty safe.”
On top of working up to 21 hours a week, Hodang is a full-time student and participates in club swimming. Juggling these three commitments has been overwhelming at times, Hodang said.
“Normally, I just make sure I do homework during break or lunch instead of doing it after school because I would have work,” Hodang said. “I only work on the weekends and that’s when a lot of assignments are due–on Sunday, 11:59 [or] Saturday 11:59.”
Similar to Hodang, senior James La balances his job at Grocery Outlet with several other responsibilities. Interestingly, working has helped La become better at time management, he said.
“I think learning how to manage my time properly has been a big issue with me throughout high school,” La said in a Zoom interview. “Working has definitely helped me learn how to manage my time properly. I try to put my time into blocks, one block for homework before [basketball] practice, and then go to practice, come home, work on some more homework.”
Grocery Outlet requires all carts to be cleaned before going to another customer, the cashier table to be wiped down every 20 minutes, and all customers to wear masks that cover both their mouth and nose, La said. Even with these extensive precautions in place, La said he does not feel 100% safe at work.
“At Grocery Outlet we have a health standard that we have to adhere to,” La said. “I think the big problem with a lot of people is covering their noses. I don’t think I can ever say I feel 100% safe as an essential worker, but with all the steps that we’re taking to keep our customers and our employees safe, I do feel a lot safer than a regular person would think.”
The most challenging part of his job has been limited interactions with customers, La said. Besides saving money for college and being able to understand and empathize with people who work in the service industry, the opportunity to hone communications skills was a major motivation for La to get a job, he said.
“Voices muffled through masks and limited social interactions because we have to get the line moving quicker so the store doesn’t fill up [has made it] a lot harder for me to interact with my customers,” La said. “However, I do get about a minute or two with each customer as I’m bagging their groceries, which, for me, is enough to have impactful conversations with them, either talking about their life or the new items at our store. It’s the engaging conversations [that] are the most fulfilling to me.”
Senior Hayley Bui is a year-round lifeguard at a local aquatics complex. According to Bui, she is working to save money for college and has had this job for a little over a year. The center has a lot of protective equipment for employees and several regulations to keep swimmers safe, Bui said in a Zoom interview.
“Each person has their own individual lane, and there’s also chairs that they can put their stuff on, and we have to disinfect those as well,” Bui said. “There’s also check-ins and [everyone is] socially distanced. You don’t wear your mask in the pool even if you’re not using your face in the water. Everything’s clean, and everybody’s distanced.”
According to Bui, her work environment before and during the pandemic is almost black and white. For one, the center is a lot more desolate as only three lifeguards and 12 swimmers are allowed in the pool deck, Bui said.
“[Before COVID-19] I don’t think you could move a foot without touching somebody,” Bui said. “The lifeguards would often huddle in a tent together, about like 50 of us. That’s not safe anymore; it’s just very different.”
The most challenging part of her job has been communicating with other lifeguards, Bui said. The critical job of saving swimmers has been reimagined to fit COVID-19 regulations.
“If [I] see somebody who’s struggling in the water, I would have to ask [the other lifeguards] if I should jump in or not,” Bui said. “Our number one rule right now is just to call 911 so we stay away as much as we can, but if we have to do CPR, we should. Since we’re in a pandemic, we refrain from giving mouth-to-mouth CPR since that has a high risk of spreading diseases but we have resuscitator masks if we need to give CPR.”
Hodang, La, and Bui all have jobs that are completely different from one another, but there is one thing they all have in common: they have all encountered Karens. According to Wikipedia, a Karen is an entitled person who demands beyond the scope of what is appropriate or necessary.
“It was about a salad,” Hodang said. “I said I could write down what she wanted for the salad over the phone, she says, ‘No, I want to do it in person.’ I’m like, but [it would be] easier for everyone that you did over the phone. She’s like, ‘No, I want to do it in person. I want to choose exactly what I want.’ I’m like, it’s very tough.”
At the pool, Bui has faced several Karens, each with their own quirks. The restrictions have made some swimmers more cranky, Bui said.
“There’s this one lady who would bring her own music, so I always have to turn off her speaker,” Bui said. “There’s also Karens who want to wear their masks in the pool—that’s not safe because they can suffocate — Karens who want to hang out with their friends and be super close, and [Karens] who always tell me to disinfect more even though I already disinfected. There’s a lot of Karens right now.”
Although COVID-19 has made Karens less containable, the situation helped La better appreciate workers, he said. Difficult customers serve as a learning experience for employees and customers alike, La said.
“I think all those experiences help us, employees, and the customers who experience it as an observer, to appreciate our workers, which [is] what we should be doing, especially in this time,” La said.