Covid and my “Below the Cardboard Ceiling” jobs and what I learned

The day they announced Covid lockdowns I applied for 3 of what I call “Below the Cardboard Ceiling” jobs.

Because I could, I’m not immunocompromised and no one to infect but the kitties and horses. And because I wanted to do something useful. And to be honest, financially it was useful. My expenses are low, I don’t need a lot every month but I a little extra would be helpful. I had been demoing for a wonderful Bakeshop at a local organic food store for fun and for a little extra income, and of course that vanished with Covid.

Stocking (not like the ho-ho-ho kind) tools. The one on the left will poke or cut you without a holder but easy to keep a sharp blade. The orange one will strain your thumb and you’ll be tempted to use it after it becomes dull because changing the blades is clunky and getting the blades a chore. The white ones are the old fashioned kind, worked best for me, you have up to 4 sharp surfaces, replacement blades $5 for 20, and the blades are recyclable as metal, appropriately taped up as you see here. Tip from grocery store stockers was to drop a magnet in your back pocket (the grey rectangle), then just slap the cutter on it between boxes. After retracting the blades of course.

It’s all about having the right tools!

The 3 jobs I applied for were night stocking at a grocery store, working at a farm supply store, and working nights at a big box store. I started night stocking at the grocery store 2 days later. Eventually I did all of those jobs and in addition worked at 2 of the 3 package delivery services.

All of the jobs reinforced the “salt of the earth” worker profile from my automotive plant days. At “the shop” I learned that the person doing the job for 30 years knew way more about it than I ever would, and would be happy to share if they were just asked. (Lots of stories about that for future posts)

I started out calling it a “Reverse Glass Ceiling” but quickly decided that was way too dignified. When I describe the work as “Below the Cardboard Ceiling” everybody immediately “gets” what kind of job it is.

I received little to no training in the chemicals I was using or might be using. As usual (and as required by law) I was told about the (mostly unintelligible to workers in this capacity) Safety Data Sheets. Maybe.

And if I looked at the Safety Data Sheets SDS’s, the information tended to be pretty useless. “No hazardous ingredients” on a chemical we used to clean that dissolves grease like crazy. Chlorinated scrubbing cleanser powder with chlorine not listed as an ingredient. (On page 3 of the SDS it advised that mixing with ammonia might result in a toxic gas).

Keeping this short, more to follow.

Have you looked at the Safety Data Sheets for the chemicals you are around in your workplace? In your home?

Now imagine that English is not your primary language, that you don’t read well, and/or you have cognitive challenges such as dyslexia.

Read the labels and leave your comments about what you find!