When I was a front end cashier at Sobeys in 1999/2000, I wasn’t allowed to wear nail polish. I had to wear all-white sneakers with no visible brand name, something that is almost impossible to find. I had to wear the same ugly smock over white or nude pantyhose every day. I rebelled by wearing PVC miniskirts, rude tshirts, and kinky underwear under my smock.
I wasn’t allowed to ever sit down on the job, even when I was very unwell. I wasnt given enough time on my lunch break to go to the bathroom and eat my lunch. I wasn’t allowed to drink water while working, and all of the cashiers were frequently sick because whenever anyone entered or exited the store in winter, it was so cold that we could all see our breath. Pneumonia and bronchitis were frequent, and I had to go to emergency at the hospital several times because of asthma attacks triggered by the cold air.
On NYE 1999, on the cusp of what everyone thought would be Armageddon because of the Y2K bug, none of the cashiers were given any breaks during their shift. The excuse was that there were too many customers for us to take a break. The line for the cash registers wrapped three times around the perimeter of the entire store, and it was a huge store. All of the customers were in foul moods and snapping at us. Grocery store rage is as real as road rage.
I had a bad repetitive stress issue with my wrists from keying things into the cash register. I could barely grasp things, but not a single customer ever thought to pick up their own heavy items, like frozen turkeys, bags of dogfood, or flats of canned goods or bottled water. While I wasn’t on the clock, I wore a sling.
I didn’t make enough money at this job to wash my laundry and had to wash my clothes in the shower every day after work. I didn’t make enough money to eat decent food and had to buy whatever wasn’t too rotten in the discount section.
I have never worked so hard and been treated so poorly as I have at any minimum wage job.
It isn’t acceptable to treat people so poorly, but it is legal.
Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it is ethical. Break unethical laws. Do crime. And if you see someone steal food, no, you didn’t.
