Grocery workers are not safe: must be allowed Unemployment

I am tired of hearing about heroic those on the front lines are - the housekeepers, bus drivers, Uber drivers, fast food workers and grocery store clerks. I am not tired of hearing about the heroic doctors and nurses. MDs took oaths and most health professionals devote their lives specifically to deal with the type of crisis we are experiencing. I assure you, Joe the bus driver did not.

Hearing today about the Detroit bus driver, Jason Hargrove, who passed away after a rider with Covid spat on him, I knew I had to speak up. This is going to happen again and again until People Get It.

Because I re-entered the job market at a difficult time - during my grief over my mother's death and after returning to the U.S. from grad school abroad - I wanted to take my time finding a professional position. I loved my trips to Fresh Market in Guilford. Loved the free samples of coffee and rows of every type of Jelly Belly one could fathom. I also was heartened when a sweet assistant manager gave me a free rose one day, the day I told her I was mourning my mother's death.

I was happy to get a part-time job there, and realized it was temporary. What I did not plan on, though, was that a pandemic would rear its scary head and endanger everyone on the front lines. As a science writer I knew about this months ago. A friend in London was reporting on it in late January. I had Covid on my radar when I anxiously boarded a train to DC for a reporting job interview at Valentine's Day, sabotaging my chances, frankly, for fear I'd catch the virus.

I was still at Fresh Market when the news got scary suddenly. We were asked to clean, and I wanted to help out, but I was terrified. When an older lady frowned and said, "You have to do this?" I nodded and said I was happy to help, that it made me feel useful during a difficult time. However, I knew that no one could assure me of my safety. All the cleaning solutions in the world could not ensure that.

I chose to quit the following day after a phone call with my boss. It was abrupt and I was almost shocked by my quick decision, yet strangely not shocked. I knew at age 58 I was in a group at risk for severe complications should I contract Covid-19.

Unfortunately, I am still unsure if I will be granted Unemployment. I am working part-time as a freelance writer, but not full-time. I contend that all bus drivers, fast food workers, grocery store workers, etc. who want to quit should be 1) allowed to do so; 2) immediately granted sufficient Unemployment to live on. Those that choose to stay in their jobs should immediately have their salaries doubled.

I had not been in a grocery store in a while when I walked to Big Y for the first time last Saturday. I was delighted to see the sneeze guards and see how well people followed the dictate to stand six feet apart. I was less delighted by how packed the store was, how overflowing the parking lot.

There is so much more we need to do to combat this virus. We are up to almost 5,000 infections in the state. I am writing this from a room, all alone, my closest family members in California and Hawaii. It breaks my heart to be so far away, to have my professional goals derailed, to wonder if I will survive this pandemic.

The least the State of Connecticut should do is immediately grant Unemployment to people like me or anyone who chooses to quit. I can't stand to think of one more bus driver dying because he was just doing his job.