Day 5 – Sunday I was scheduled to work a 6-hour shift instead of my usual 4 hours. Some staff started at 4am, some at 5, and so on. Before 10.30am, we’d finished picking which was fine by me. I could have stayed on, stacked shelves, done some cleaning, but I was more than happy to leave. In the end, I only had 15 minutes overtime that day. Swings and roundabouts. I’d had a bad night Saturday, so wasn’t too bothered about losing some overtime. After I’d clocked off I did just a little shopping, topping up on essentials such as marmite lol, toilet rolls, coffee… many of us are sure we’ll be heading back into a national lockdown after New Year’s. Oh, I found out today that my BIL is Covid-free, so it was probably a chest infection, like he thought, and he’s going back to work on Monday. Good news there, and a relief for him and my sister.

Day 6 – Again, anther 6-hour shift planned, though we finished early again. I stayed an hour after we’d finished to stack and tidy shelves; I’m on overtime so why not? A good day, not too crazy though there were a lot of people in the store. I’d planned to buy some bread flour to keep the stocks up so left the store to get a small trolley. Bad move! I had to queue in the rain to get back in again. I won’t make that mistake again and will struggle with just a basket rather than queue outside again. Two more shifts to go…

Day 7 – Another 6-hour shift planned, another early finish. I’d worked 4 hours and decided I didn’t want to stack shelves again. Over 2 days, I’ve accrued 9 hours overtime which is not as much as planned, but still good. Getting crazy on the shop floor now, and we’ve had staff marshalling how many staff/customers can be in an aisle. Most people are being good. I had a panicked moment; I needed items from a special refrigerated room out the back, and couldn’t find anyone to help me, so I just got on with it. I collected half the items, and tried to leave, only to find I’d been shut in! I watch TV, I’ve seen people almost freeze to death after being shut in cold storage rooms. There was a green, spongy button, and I pushed that, hard, and the door released. Thank goodness! I took the items back to my trolley and found someone to assist with the final items, stating I wasn’t going in there again on my own. Honestly, it really worried me, being shut in…

Day 8 – The final day. Again, thankfully, an early finish. I didn’t work as long as some of my colleagues, however as mentioned, I have worked 8 days straight and I was starting to feel quite frazzled. Most people have been well-behaved, though there’s always one or two who expect you to keep your distance, however they don’t mind invading your space. And don’t even get me started on the colleague who decided to pull my ponytail. WTF? She’d better not make a habit of that… So, I’m done now for 3 days. I’ll be in on Sunday for a normal shift, then 2 days off, then in again as normal apart from having New Year’s Day off. Phew! In total, I’ve worked about 13 hours overtime in December. It’s not as much as planned but that’s fine as I was a tad concerned at how much tax, and even student loan, I might get clobbered with.

So, this year has been a strange one indeed (unprecedented is the word often used) with rolling lockdowns, people unable to travel to be with family, and of course many deaths, some closer to home than others. I think it’s important to take a moment to remember those that have passed, though we should also remember the good times we’ve had with them over the years, and to be thankful for those memories. I hope you all have a peaceful Christmas, and I hope with all my heart that 2021 will a better one for the whole world.