Photo by Ryan Lebrun
On what seemed like a normal day in the middle of March last year it was revealed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford that we are going into a state of emergency. Non-essential businesses and services would be closed, and we would be locked down. A seismic shift that saw citizens step back to protect themselves. But the essential workers had the task of stepping forward as frontline workers. Now over a year later and we find ourselves back in a stay-at-home order. But how do the frontline workers feel about this seemingly never-ending task they have had to take on?
Ryan Lebrun is a supervisor for a local London Tim Hortons and is the kind of worker that will do what is necessary to make the store succeed no matter the cost. Through this pandemic he has been the backbone of his store working amid the changes and toughening it up through the tough times. The start of the pandemic though had quite the effect on him.
“I got to admit, I was a tiny bit scared, but for the most part, I was discouraged. The other part, mostly just confused, frustrated almost because I don’t understand how the job that I do is considered more essential and important than a lot of the local businesses that do 10 times what we do on a regular basis.”
Since his time as a frontline worker began, he has questioned the lockdown and if it really is making a difference.
“Since the pandemic has started, I’ve probably seen more customers on the daily than I have before the pandemic. I fully understand what it is like to be stuck in your own head, because there is nothing better to do. But people are not taking this as seriously as they should. It’s a matter of enforcement and I don’t think the rules themselves are being enforced properly, or at least efficiently enough to ensure that the cases get lower and lower.”
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto
Although he does have worries about the enforcement of lockdowns, the back and forth between the lockdowns is a different story.
“The only times I notice it is when it affects our lobby and that’s only been recently. I do not think we should have our lobby open at all to be entirely honest. The fact that we allow hundreds of people to come through our store every day. There’s always going to be bad cleaning sometimes and I’m afraid to go in my lobby sometimes after seeing the amount of people we serve daily.”
Despite the worries Lebrun pleads that to get through this pandemic and back to a new normal we need to work together or else we are just working against each other.
https://youtu.be/ViROttBkf-U
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