“I think being out of retail makes you realize how terrible the pay and conditions are.”

Reide Pearson, 20, studies film at Columbia College Chicago, but the pandemic forced her to move back home to a suburb of St. Louis and pick up a job at a retailer. Now she’s back in Chicago and has reflected on work during the pandemic, as well as work in general.

Q Hunter Turpin: While you were back home because of COVID, did you have a job?

A Reide Pearson: I didn’t work at the beginning of the pandemic because I was unsure of what it was all gonna look like and how long it was gonna last. I obviously wanted to reduce my risk of bringing it to my house because I was living with my family. Towards the end of 2020, I got a job in retail. I worked at Five Below and worked there until I came back to Chicago.

Q: How many hours a week were you working?

A: I was working anywhere between 35 and 40 hours a week, with more during the holiday season.

Q: Did you notice any differences working before the pandemic versus during it?

A: At first, I definitely noticed a big difference because I didn’t work while I was at school in Chicago. Everyone seemed a lot more cautious when I first started working: social distancing, wearing masks, cleanliness. Towards the end of my time working there, everyone got a bit more lax, which I think was partially due to the fact that I was working in Missouri and COVID wasn’t necessarily taken the most seriously there. By the end of it, I wasn’t seeing much of a difference between working before and during the pandemic.

Q: Did you feel like your store or the corporation you worked for took the pandemic seriously?

A: The corporation had set aside procedures for if someone were to get sick with COVID, but the process of getting into those procedures took a little bit longer than I think they should’ve. One day I remember one of my coworkers was sick and had COVID symptoms, but because we didn’t have enough managers, we couldn’t get them covered and they ended up exposing a few other people. They then had to take an extended time away from work and we were down even more employees.

Q: Did you feel like you were paid enough in general? For work during the pandemic?

A: I don’t think that we were paid enough. Honestly, I don’t think that they pay enough in general without the pandemic. To add on all these additional tasks and worries and risks every time you step into the building, there should’ve been a difference in pay for sure. I was definitely anxious every time I came in.

Q: How much did you get paid?

A: $10.30. I started out at $10 and then got a raise to $10.30.

Q: Has the time off between jobs and at school changed how you feel about working in general?

A: I think being out of retail makes you realize more than when you’re in it how terrible the pay and the conditions are. When you’re there, you notice all the little things, but you can explain it away because you’re experiencing it and you’re in the stress of it. If I had the option I would not go back to an entry-level job. I might have to, but if I could help it I would avoid it.

Q: Do you remember any shifts that stand out as being especially bad?

A: I have experienced some bad shifts. I’ve had really difficult customers and a lack of coworkers with me and so I’ve had to deal with that customer and then try to catch back up with the line. That was always stressful because people get very impatient, and people’s impatience ends up reflecting on you and your work ethic. I’ve had additional responsibilities put on me by managers and trainers that aren’t really my responsibility or in my pay grade. I’ve like run an entire restaurant by myself before I was of age to serve drinks cause the manager like stepped away and there was no one else. I’ve had to go to work whenever the roads were terrible and I thought I was going to get in a car accident four time in my 10-minute drive to work. If you’re sick, it’s hard to find a manager that’s forgiving because they take out their frustration on you the next time you’re working, it’s hard to get other people to cover shifts. It can be a lot, especially if you have other things going on like school.