Item
KD Oral History, 2022/05/10
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
KD Oral History, 2022/05/10
Description (Dublin Core)
A working student describes his pandemic challenges while employed in the food industry.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
May 10, 2022
Creator (Dublin Core)
LT
KD
Contributor (Dublin Core)
KD
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
HIS459
Partner (Dublin Core)
University at Buffalo
Type (Dublin Core)
oral history
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Consumer Culture (shopping, dining...)
English
Food & Drink
English
Health & Wellness
English
Home & Family Life
English
Public Space
English
Social Distance
English
Cities & Suburbs
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
mask
food
pizza shop
delivery
stress
sanitation
wage
tip
unemployment
employment
Collection (Dublin Core)
Foodways
Language & Communication
Mental Health
Working Students
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
05/10/2022
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
05/10/2022
Date Created (Dublin Core)
05/10/2022
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
LT
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
KD
Location (Omeka Classic)
14215
Buffalo
New York
United States of America
Format (Dublin Core)
Audio
Coverage (Dublin Core)
June 2021 - August 2021
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:05:45
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
LT 0:00
Alright, so it is Tuesday, May 10, at 8:50pm. And I am here with KD. And I have your permission to record and post this on JOTPY, is that correct?
KD 0:09
Yep, that's correct.
LT 0:10
How old are you?
KD 0:11
I'm 21 years old.
LT 0:14
And did you work during the pandemic?
KD 0:15
Yep. I worked at a pizza shop--at a local pizza shop.
LT 0:21
Were your working hours affected by the outbreak of COVID?
KD 0:24
Um, yeah, I was definitely working less because my boss tried having less people work together to try to prevent everyone getting COVID. So definitely had less hours.
LT 0:34
Uh, did your transportation method change to work?
KD 0:37
No, I had a car the whole time. So it didn't change.
LT 0:41
And you said earlier that your employer tried to reduce the number of workers there at one point. Um, did that make the work environment less friendly at all?
KD 0:51
Yeah, it was because usually the place I worked at it was always fun to go to like everyone was cool, friendly together. But yeah, once people started not or once like less people were there it was definitely less friendly. It was just more boring to go to.
LT 1:08
Were you expected to follow strict cleaning procedures like cleaning countertops and wiping down sinks and everything?
KD 1:13
Ah, yeah, we are definitely since we were a food place, we definitely had to be a little stricter, since we were open during the pandemic. We had to like spray down countertops like way more often than we usually did, wash our hands, like obviously did that. But like, even more, just everything was times two times three.
LT 1:32
Did you--did any of your coworkers kind of take their own actions to, uh, clean more aside from what was necessary? And what was mandated by your employer?
KD 1:42
Yeah, there are definitely some people were more freaked out about it than others. I remember some people--it was before masks are mandated--so people weren't wearing masks, they were wearing gloves. Even some person was wearing goggles at one point. So some people were definitely more cautious than others.
LT 1:57
And did you see that same kind of feeling among customers as well?
KD 2:03
Yeah, yeah, there are definitely customers who were doing the same thing. Even my mom she loved going to the pizza shop. She she was very freaked out. So she would come in with gloves. And, uh, it was pretty funny to see. But yeah, there were definitely people there that were extra cautious.
LT 2:20
Um, did you notice a big turnover of employees during the pandemic? Were there people constantly leaving or new employees coming in?
KD 2:27
So, yeah, I guess there were more employees because all the older people, they didn't really want to come into work, because we had a healthy mix of like high schoolers and then, like 40--40 to 50 year olds who kind of just came in wanting extra tip money or something. So they definitely stopped coming and it was more high schoolers because they obviously they felt like they weren't gonna get as sick. So--
LT 2:53
Um, at any point, did you see your wages affected by the pandemic?
KD 2:56
Um, if anything, I got tipped more, because I was a delivery driver. So I feel like people tip to extra for me driving places delivering them food. So yeah, if anything, I got more money.
LT 3:10
Did it become more difficult for you to juggle your personal life and working at the same time during the pandemic?
KD 3:15
Um, I wouldn't say so. Since I work during the summer, I really had didn't have too much going on. So it's kind of just work or do nothing. Uh, yeah, it was weird with the pandemic but no it didn't affect it.
LT 3:28
Um, were you forced to rely on any government subsidies at any point like unemployment?
KD 3:32
Oh, no, I wasn't. No, I didn't need any of that. I, uh, yeah, working definitely helped. I had income. So no, I didn't need it.
LT 3:41
Did any of your family members rely on that? Were they forced to?
KD 3:44
Um, my sister, uh, went on it. She, she didn't work during the pandemic so she hopped on that and was able to do that.
LT 3:54
Um, did work become more difficult due to social distancing and mask use? I know you were delivering, but even as far as just getting places in keeping up with all the cleaning procedures?
KD 4:04
Yeah, yeah, even with delivering like, it was weird because we--our business is pretty old and don't have too much technology, so we would barely even write down the phone numbers of the people, so a lot of people wanted their food to be non contact. So trying to deal with that was a little hard. Um, but yeah cleaning was--we definitely did a lot more cleaning too with the pandemic.
LT 4:28
In your opinion...did you experience an increase in stress working during this time? Was it on your mind that you could get sick or you could even bring it home to your family members or even customers?
KD 4:39
Yeah, yeah, I definitely didn't want to give it to other customers because a lot of the people I deliver to were elderly, so I didn't think I would have gotten like I'd ended up getting sick, but I never passed it on to anyone. So I wasn't too worried about it, but I just didn't want to give it to the elderly or any older customers.
LT 4:58
Did you experience a lack of motivation to come to work or even keep your job during this time?
KD 5:02
Um, yeah, cuz with unemployment being around, I was like, "man, I wish I could do that and not have to work." So, yeah, definitely felt some motivat--or lack of motivation.
LT 5:17
I know you said your sister faced some hardship. Did any of your other close family members face hardship as a result of the job loss or other pandemic complications?
KD 5:26
Now, we were pretty lucky. My mom was a teacher. So she just kind of went on Zoom for everything, uh, my dad could have worked at home. So we were pretty lucky, we didn't have anything happened to us.
LT 5:39
Uh, do you have any questions for me?
KD 5:40
No, I think that's it. Thank you.
LT 5:42
All right. Thank you for your time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Alright, so it is Tuesday, May 10, at 8:50pm. And I am here with KD. And I have your permission to record and post this on JOTPY, is that correct?
KD 0:09
Yep, that's correct.
LT 0:10
How old are you?
KD 0:11
I'm 21 years old.
LT 0:14
And did you work during the pandemic?
KD 0:15
Yep. I worked at a pizza shop--at a local pizza shop.
LT 0:21
Were your working hours affected by the outbreak of COVID?
KD 0:24
Um, yeah, I was definitely working less because my boss tried having less people work together to try to prevent everyone getting COVID. So definitely had less hours.
LT 0:34
Uh, did your transportation method change to work?
KD 0:37
No, I had a car the whole time. So it didn't change.
LT 0:41
And you said earlier that your employer tried to reduce the number of workers there at one point. Um, did that make the work environment less friendly at all?
KD 0:51
Yeah, it was because usually the place I worked at it was always fun to go to like everyone was cool, friendly together. But yeah, once people started not or once like less people were there it was definitely less friendly. It was just more boring to go to.
LT 1:08
Were you expected to follow strict cleaning procedures like cleaning countertops and wiping down sinks and everything?
KD 1:13
Ah, yeah, we are definitely since we were a food place, we definitely had to be a little stricter, since we were open during the pandemic. We had to like spray down countertops like way more often than we usually did, wash our hands, like obviously did that. But like, even more, just everything was times two times three.
LT 1:32
Did you--did any of your coworkers kind of take their own actions to, uh, clean more aside from what was necessary? And what was mandated by your employer?
KD 1:42
Yeah, there are definitely some people were more freaked out about it than others. I remember some people--it was before masks are mandated--so people weren't wearing masks, they were wearing gloves. Even some person was wearing goggles at one point. So some people were definitely more cautious than others.
LT 1:57
And did you see that same kind of feeling among customers as well?
KD 2:03
Yeah, yeah, there are definitely customers who were doing the same thing. Even my mom she loved going to the pizza shop. She she was very freaked out. So she would come in with gloves. And, uh, it was pretty funny to see. But yeah, there were definitely people there that were extra cautious.
LT 2:20
Um, did you notice a big turnover of employees during the pandemic? Were there people constantly leaving or new employees coming in?
KD 2:27
So, yeah, I guess there were more employees because all the older people, they didn't really want to come into work, because we had a healthy mix of like high schoolers and then, like 40--40 to 50 year olds who kind of just came in wanting extra tip money or something. So they definitely stopped coming and it was more high schoolers because they obviously they felt like they weren't gonna get as sick. So--
LT 2:53
Um, at any point, did you see your wages affected by the pandemic?
KD 2:56
Um, if anything, I got tipped more, because I was a delivery driver. So I feel like people tip to extra for me driving places delivering them food. So yeah, if anything, I got more money.
LT 3:10
Did it become more difficult for you to juggle your personal life and working at the same time during the pandemic?
KD 3:15
Um, I wouldn't say so. Since I work during the summer, I really had didn't have too much going on. So it's kind of just work or do nothing. Uh, yeah, it was weird with the pandemic but no it didn't affect it.
LT 3:28
Um, were you forced to rely on any government subsidies at any point like unemployment?
KD 3:32
Oh, no, I wasn't. No, I didn't need any of that. I, uh, yeah, working definitely helped. I had income. So no, I didn't need it.
LT 3:41
Did any of your family members rely on that? Were they forced to?
KD 3:44
Um, my sister, uh, went on it. She, she didn't work during the pandemic so she hopped on that and was able to do that.
LT 3:54
Um, did work become more difficult due to social distancing and mask use? I know you were delivering, but even as far as just getting places in keeping up with all the cleaning procedures?
KD 4:04
Yeah, yeah, even with delivering like, it was weird because we--our business is pretty old and don't have too much technology, so we would barely even write down the phone numbers of the people, so a lot of people wanted their food to be non contact. So trying to deal with that was a little hard. Um, but yeah cleaning was--we definitely did a lot more cleaning too with the pandemic.
LT 4:28
In your opinion...did you experience an increase in stress working during this time? Was it on your mind that you could get sick or you could even bring it home to your family members or even customers?
KD 4:39
Yeah, yeah, I definitely didn't want to give it to other customers because a lot of the people I deliver to were elderly, so I didn't think I would have gotten like I'd ended up getting sick, but I never passed it on to anyone. So I wasn't too worried about it, but I just didn't want to give it to the elderly or any older customers.
LT 4:58
Did you experience a lack of motivation to come to work or even keep your job during this time?
KD 5:02
Um, yeah, cuz with unemployment being around, I was like, "man, I wish I could do that and not have to work." So, yeah, definitely felt some motivat--or lack of motivation.
LT 5:17
I know you said your sister faced some hardship. Did any of your other close family members face hardship as a result of the job loss or other pandemic complications?
KD 5:26
Now, we were pretty lucky. My mom was a teacher. So she just kind of went on Zoom for everything, uh, my dad could have worked at home. So we were pretty lucky, we didn't have anything happened to us.
LT 5:39
Uh, do you have any questions for me?
KD 5:40
No, I think that's it. Thank you.
LT 5:42
All right. Thank you for your time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Item sets
This item was submitted on May 10, 2022 by [anonymous user] using the form “Upload” on the site “Oral Histories”: http://mail.covid-19archive.org/s/oralhistory
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