Life on the Grocery Line: A Frontline Experience in a Global Pandemic

by Adam Kaat

On his first day as a cashier at Dream Grocers, Daniel imagines the worst he'll have to deal with on the job are the occasional grumpy customers and long days on his feet. But in just one week's time, reality changes entirely as the COVID-19 pandemic creates a frenzied panic throughout Daniel's home state of Colorado. Now, he's suddenly being called a hero just for showing up at his job, and he isn't sure how to feel about that. As the uncertainty and paranoia around the virus spread rapidly, Daniel tries to stay afloat and not let the irate hordes of customers bring him down. He learns more than he ever expected to about humanity's response to fear, observing most prominently the way that some people look down on the very workers they deem "essential."

Genres: Biography, Adult

162 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 7, 2021

Reviews

[R. Jetleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, odd read, but thoughtful and insightful at the same time. The author is intelligent and philosophical, and shares interesting tidbits on pandemic mindset and unusual, rude customer experiences during a pandemic. Wish he had written more than just the first week of the pandemic. How much longer did he stick it out there, for example.

[Kim Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ethnographic approach -- I wanted more at the end!

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I used to work at a high end grocery store (pre-pandemic) and that feeling of camaraderie, of being in the trenches was so real. Every weekend and holiday was just insane demand. And I never understood this, because it’s not like holidays are a surprise- they come at roughly the same time every year. So prepare incrementally in advance, that would make sense right? Why deliberately make choices that pitch you into a pressure cooker?

A little off topic for the book review, but the essential point of the book is that people make poor choices and are trapped in negative feedback loops. I do not include working a retail job as a poor choice. Some retail jobs lend themselves to rewarding careers, others are training grounds for the young or a bridge for the middle-aged or a way to make ends meet for the old. And there is always dignity in service. The poor choices on display in this book were primarily of attitude and relationships. People choosing to be nasty or petty or sanctimonious and not even for any tangible gain but because they have let their lives become so hollow, a petty score with a stranger is the highlight of their day.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an odd little book. I was looking forward to the book’s premise of describing life as experienced by a grocery store cashier during the pandemic, but it was cut short very early, after only a week in.

There were some interesting characters, but there was some rather distressing ageism expressed by the protagonist.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

#17: READ A BOOK ABOUT A FRONT-LINE EXPERIENCE DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC: This is a behind the scenes look at the abuse the cashiers in a grocery store had to deal with during the first week of the pandemic. Rules and regulations were changing daily and the cashiers were doing as instructed, but the customers were not adjusting very well to these daily changes and took it out on the cashiers. This book gives us a first-hand look at what essential workers had to deal with in the early stages of the COVID pandemic. This was a short read...but summed it all up. I'm not so sure I liked the ending....I may have gone a different route if I was the author. I am pretty sure that many others, at this time, are so over this situation, that I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to; however, I think this story would be very interesting for our grandchildren to read ......as teenagers--just to get a sense of the times during the Covid-19 Pandemic. KU

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a "re-live" from the pandemic chaos when it first began.
This includes the panic, fear, unknown and crazy measures of the years of horror given to the world.
It shows the prospective for the grocery story workers and all they did.

I agree 10000% on these quotes in this book. Who knew?
"It seems like they are making everything up as they go?"
"It's always going to be something that is trying to kill us."
I liked this story and it will probably be read by many, through out the coming years as time moves forward.

[Marian Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down glimpse at essential

The pandemic hit just as my mother moved to assisted living. The pandemic hit just as Adam started a new job in a grocery store. Same pandemic different experiences. It was interesting to hear how it began to play out from his perspective not only in his job but his age demographic as well. He captured wisdom beyond his years but !maybe that is one side effect we are not quite recognizing yet,.

[Jeris Freesmeier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philosophical writer that expresses he’s truths about the initial society breakdown of the pandemic of covid 19.

I look forward to seeing his next books and the growth in his writing.

Humorous, harsh, philosophical, and endearing all in one book.

[Jill Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this a lot more then I thought I would. Totally relatable. If you have ever worked with the public then you will get it.

[Shianne Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read

Very good read!!! In depth and funny look at people during a crisis. Thus dude really was a trooper!! I'd read more of his work.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's short. I enjoyed it. These new books about the pandemic and resultant tribulations jog my memory. It's already past history.

[Carol Bodin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grocery Store Perspective

This is a narrative that we can all understand. Working in a grocery store, during the pandemic, the stories are funny and poignant and real.

[Crystal Toller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential Workers

This book describes a man's experiences working at a grocery store in Denver during the first days of the Coronavirus pandemic. I saw this book on a Facebook ad and read it with Kindle unlimited. Really fun read and even managed some laughs out if this one as I've worked retail myself.

[Teal Veyre · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 10 pages in. The protagonist is so pretentious that the process of reading is unbearable. An unlikeable protagonist can be fine sometimes, but this guy ruined the reading experience. He has SUCH "you need a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty" energy.

So much purple, nonsensical prose about how important the grocery store is, how it's a community, a cathedral.

Did Jonah from Superstore write this?

The book was unbearable.

Writing way too purple.

[Lori Salma · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former grocery story cashier and parent to a cashier who worked throughout the beginning of the COVID pandemic, I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t preachy or overly cryptic, it was just a good look at one person’s experience as a cashier in March of 2020. I think it will be a good historical reference years from now. I read it in one afternoon - it was a good read. I would have enjoyed even more detail. I hope to read more from this author in the future.

[Lisa Brouillard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very telling book of grocery life during the beginning of the pandemic. I remember all of this happening but I do wish the author took it a little farther and not just end it as he did. All in all, I did enjoy it and did relate to being a “hero” as I worked everyday outside of my home also. I would recommend this book as it was a fast read but interesting.

[Paula Raibble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read, especially for those of us who lived it as “essential employees”.

[Luke Hipsher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read! The writer did an excellent job of putting the read in the mindset of what it is like to be an essential employee during a global pandemic. Really enjoyed it!

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and poignant. The only book about the pandemic that has held my interest.

[Lindsay Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked as a cashier at whole foods during the pandemic, so this book spoke to me. It was hilarious at times, dark at times, and so relatable. 

[Charolette Ragsdale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very well written by this author. I had never heard of this author prior to reading this book. The ad for this book popped up in my FB newsfeed one day and thought the book sounded interesting. As I have worked in this industry in the past, I thought I could probably relate to some of the things he talked about.

As I started reading the book, I began to have buyers remorse for the simple fact that it has a ton of profanity throughout the entire book. My question to the author is why is it necessary to include such offensive words in the book? If I had known this prior to the purchase, I never would have bought the book. The bad news is I'm not sure I'm going to read his other book that lis a continuation of this book since I'm certain there are several in that book too. Since no one else has bothered to point this out on their review, I am choosing to do so because I know I am not the only avid reader who feels this way. Naturally, I won't be buying anymore books by this author.

Overall, I thought the book had a great storyline. Anyone who has worked in this industry can probably adhere to the fact that many shoppers are crazy today. These 2 particular years, nothing in this world seemed normal and I think that had a huge influence on the behavior of others. I honestly wish everyone could work in this business sector to deal with a variety of different people on a daily basis so that they would become more compassionate and caring individuals. We definitely need a great deal more peace in this world today and to live in the here and now. This author brought up some great points about life and leaves us with something to think about in the future.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been very much looking forward to reading this book. I had seen it discussed on social media and the topic resonated with me, as my son found himself in a similar situation at the start of the pandemic. Grocery store employees went from being maligned as having 'crap jobs', to being declared 'heroes' and 'essential' in the blink of an eye. Those who worked the front lines at the beginning of the pandemic faced unprecedented chaos and upheaval as panicked shoppers hoarded nearly everything they could lay their hands upon. Store staff were in the midst of mania.

While this book was good, it could have been much better. Daniel finds himself tossed into the madness of early pandemic mania as a brand new employee of a trendy, upscale grocery store in Colorado. The author makes a valiant effort to convey the madness that these workers faced during that time. But he could have delved much deeper. The book abruptly ends at a place that really should have been the middle of the story, not the end. How did Daniel fare as the pandemic went on? I would have really liked to know. To me, it felt as if the author chopped the story off too quickly, for whatever reason, when it should have been elaborated. But I enjoyed what I did read and so I gave it four stars.

[Tiffany aka Chai Tea And Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to get a view from a different type of essential worker when I saw this book. I work as a nurse, and worked customer service (including as a cashier at a grocery store among others) for a long time. This book seemed to cut short, only about a week into the pandemic or so. So honestly, it wasn’t much about the experience of being deemed essential during that time. It felt unfinished and unpolished.

I did like that it talked about the general panic and how humans turned back to animal nature when confronted with issues they aren’t prepared for. I did like how it described the ever changing and evolving guidelines put in place (let me tell you, the same was happening at the hospital). I know if you work in customer service you have a dark sense of humor (pot, meet kettle, speaking from my current viewpoint as a nurse) but to see daydreams of killing people in print just because they were an a$$hole about wanting a small cart vs a big cart is a huge leap. I don’t know. Maybe it was because it seemed like he started out jaded from the first shift, but overall it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy.

The story preserves a moment in time when everything was new as well as chaotic. Even though we found so much more positive ways to help and heal it still seems to be a huge problem we all face. However this book sheds light on how it feels from someones first hand encounters of the public while capturing the moments people do not think about. It's a good eye opener.

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a rant

I've worked in customer service for 40 years, 11 in a grocery store in the front end (including the pandemic). This book is just ranting about assholes that come through grocery check out lanes. He does address that it got bad during the pandemic, but I've heard much worse things and witnessed much worse behavior than what he describes (even before the pandemic). And, unfortunately it's not well written.

[Chris Beese · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let down

I was really looking forward to this book having worked all through
COVID in a supermarket.when I say customers were vile to us I mean it. But unfortunately I felt let down by so much being left out.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't what I was expecting based on the reviews I read. A book that puts you in the perspective of a frontline grocery worker during the pandemic. And a true testimony of just how awful Americans have become to one another. Sad really.

[Jamie Atari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it alot because I work retail too in a dept store. I can really relate to his book. I wasnt a frontline so to speak but we were open to the public. Scarey times.

[Sharon Uberoi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an odd read......