TWO WORKERS AT STOP AND SHOP

One Sunday morning awhile back, I went to a Stop and Shop in the area to purchase the Sunday newspaper and to purchase a couple of hard rolls to make some egg sandwiches.

There were no hard rolls in the case, so I asked a bakery worker for some rolls. She took them right off a warm tray and gave them to me. Then I picked up a newspaper off the news stand.

I then got on the only line with a cashier and her bagger (helper). Both woman were up in years (not young kids), probably in their fifties. I waited, as the guy in front of me, purchased his large order. They bagged his order and sent him on his way with pleasant smiles.

As the woman was doing my little order (4 rolls and 1 newspaper), we talked. She said people are always telling her, that she should be thankful, she has a job. I told the woman, people don't know what they are talking about. She said that Stop and Shop had cut back on the employees heath benefits and pensions, etc. The employee said she had worked for Stop and Shop for over thirty years.

Then she told me how she had started working one day at 8:00 A.M. and she didn't get a break. At 1:00 P.M., she asked to go to lunch, she was told, that there was only two cashiers and she would have to wait until relief came in. I said, I thought we are in Connecticut. Don't they have to give you a break after two hours and lunch (1/2 hour) after four (4) hours of work? She said, YES, they do but they didn't that day. This is a union shop.

These are good, hard working, honest people who aren't getting a fair shake. On the other side of the coin, companies are working short handed, to keep costs down to be competitive. It is a tough economic world we live in.

How many seniors, who have retired, just can't make it on their Social Security Retirement? How many Seniors are going back to work to survive? Are the conditions, that the workers at Stop and Shop and other places experiencing, the wave of the future? How good do the workers at the Mohegan Sun Casino and the Mohegan Tribal Government have it?

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE OUT OF WORK?

Until you walk in the other persons moccasins, how can you feel and understand what they are experiencing? What do you think?

EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: The workers at Stop and Shop are the best. Shopping at Stop and Shop is always a pleasant experience. The stores are great. What do you think?