Perez, Blaze Pizza
As Blaze Pizza employee senior Michael Perez arrives for his shift, he dons his plastic gloves and face mask, scans the vacant tables and starts pressing dough in preparation for online orders. Essential workers such as Perez make and deliver food for restaurants in order to help keep communities functioning during the quarantine.
“I definitely feel at risk because people still come in whether it’s online or not. I touch money, counters and much more, which is a risk,” Perez said. “I constantly try to wear gloves and wash my hands, but sometimes you never know if you might catch the virus.”
In reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, added sanitary precautions include extra cleaning procedures and face-covering requirements, decreased shifts of three to four people and fewer work hours.
“It feels good to be named an essential worker,” Perez said. “This is because people who work minimum wage jobs like this are finally getting noticed for the hard work they do and how important they are to the economy.”
Rose, Stonefire Grill
At Stonefire Grill, senior Taylor Rose exhaustedly clocks out after a busy Saturday lunch shift of carrying trays of food, answering phones and packing orders. She strips off her gloves and face mask, knowing tomorrow will likely be as busy and chaotic as that day.
“Most of the time I don’t even notice anything different, but when I remember the situation, it freaks me out a bit,” Rose said. “I just try to stop thinking about it, occupy myself with work and try to stay as safe as possible by changing gloves and washing my hands.”
Rose works more hours due to school closure, which opened up her schedule for shifts she could not take before.
“Before, I was upset because I had to work when everyone else got to stay home,” Rose said. “But now, I’m grateful to even have a job because it allows me to get out of the house even if it is only for a couple hours.”
Since the Safer at Home order, business fluctuates, bustling on the weekends and slowing on the weekdays. As a result, there are more employees on weekend shifts and less on weekdays.
“The atmosphere is definitely different because there is a lot less customer interaction,” Rose said. “Also, depending on the day, business can be calm and relaxed or extremely busy and chaotic.”
Stonefire Grill, along with many other restaurants, implemented extra sanitary measures such as the requirement of face coverings, along with sanitation procedures every couple of hours in order to avoid contamination.
“I don’t consider myself extremely important or necessary because if people didn’t have Stonefire, it wouldn’t be the end of the world,” Rose said. “However, as far as the other essential workers such as doctors and nurses, they are extremely needed when it comes to fighting the pandemic.”
Bonura, Sprouts Farmers Market
As junior Italia Bonura walks into Sprouts Farmers Market, she gets her temperature checked, pulls a face mask across her face and fits both her hands into a pair of crinkly, plastic gloves before moving to help customers bag groceries. Though the store has more customers than before quarantine, the fear of COVID-19 still lingers in the air.
“I don’t feel as much at risk because I always have a mask and gloves on,” Bonura said. “Customers have been pretty calm and respectful about staying six feet away, and I remember to wash my hands every time I take off my gloves.”
As a precaution to COVID-19, Sprouts in Pasadena introduced a 70 customer limit to avoid overly packed stores. However, customer limits depend on the size of each location.
“Being an essential worker makes me feel like I’m helping people, which makes me proud of myself,” Bonura said. “I think essential workers are important because they speed up the process of ending quarantine.”