An Essential Worker's Rant

I work in a drugstore, not a frontliner (because I work in the office) but is  one of those employees who needs to go to work in situation like this for the company and most importantly for the customers to cater their needs (even though we are invisible to them).

Those people backline serves as the backbone of the company. Backliners are the least appreciated people this time or should I say people really don't know us because we are not physically present for them. Yes, we all admit that those frontliners have more risk in their health and the lesser we are. We, backliners also takes risks especially on our health from the moment we get out from our homes going to work.

Majority of the people right now are in their homes for their safety. We also want to be safe but no matter how much we want to stay at home, we still decide to get up each day to go to work because our work is ESSENTIAL for the sake of many.

#essentialworkers

#backliners

Above was my post in my facebook account, not exactly since I have to hide to name of the company I'm in, as I rant during the start of lockdown here in the Philippines. I just can't imagine that it is already been more than a year since we are living with the existence of Covid19 which disturbed us and it even claimed lives. I feel bad for the people who lost their loved ones during this time.

During this time, a lot of people were in their homes for them not to be infected with virus but us, who are classified as an essential workers got no choice but to still go to work for the sake of many. I can not deny the fact that everytime I go out to go to work, it scares me, all I have are my prayers and trust in God to be away from viruses.

Essential workers played and still playing a great role here in the world, but so sad since a lot of people are discriminating them because lots of people who works essentially were the ones who almost gets infected but will people please know and instead of discrimating them, why do people do not even know how to thank our frontliners who are courageous enough to help cure those who are infected and even if it means risking their own health.

I can not also classify whether if I am thankful because I am an essential worker or not, thankful in such a way that I still have my job in times that a lot of people lost their job and lots of establishments were closed, lots of employees also didn't have to go to work since they are asked to just stay first in their homes and that I still have continous in flow of money. Not thankful in such a way that I am prone to be infected since I am exposed outside and having been infected to COVID19 is not a joke, some have mild effects but worst case is that others who gets infected dies.

There even come a time that the company I am working in change our schedule from working at 7:30 in the morning to 6 o'clock pm to 6:00 in the morning to 3 o'clock in the afternoon and from having a one and a half hour of lunch break to only thirty minutes.

Imagine how early we have to wake up to prepare in going to work, having only small time to have our lunch but good thing is that, we were able to home early since at that time, curfew starts at 6 o'clock in the evening up to 5 o'clock in the morning.

Ever since I started to work, I am just renting because our house is a one hour drive from my work place. I am going home every friday afternoon and comes back monday morning, this was my routine always not until when COVID19 arises, it triggered me not to go home for more than five months. On my first week of not going home, I still remember that I cried because of my fear of COVID19 and not seeing my parents on weekends.

During this time, it is also difficult for me to buy my needs especially on buying my weekly food and groceries. Since there is no available public transportation at this time, me and my workmate has no choice but to walk from our boarding house to the market, it takes us about twenty to thirty minutes just by walking to reach our destination and there are times that we were unlucky since we need to fall in line for around how many minutes to enter in the public market because limited persons are allowed to enter the market since we are following the social distancing rule to avoid spreading the virus if ever one is infected.

I never had any chance to go home in our house since there are no means of transportation, months have past, the long wait is over, there are already means of transportation and got my chance to go home but this time I never thought about going home since I have thing feeling of being scared that what if I am infected with the virus and worst case is that when I will go home and what if I am infected then there is a great possibility that I will spread the virus so I just let the opportunity pass and refused to get home. Prevention is better than cure as they say, it is better to be safe than being sorry after all. But at the moment, I am already able to go home anytime I want in our house.

I salute each and everyone of those frontliners who chose and still choosing to work to help people during this pandemic. Hoping that someday, everything will gonna be alright. I am pretty sure that all of us can't wait for the moment to come that the world is now COVID19 free. The way to fasten the recovery will always be our discipline in ourselves and follow protocols.