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Being an outcast – my life as an essential worker
Student Grace Foot never imagined her part-time job would lead her to become an essential worker.
From childhood, it is always instilled in us that wherever we go, no matter what difficulties we are faced with in life, we can always return home.
Home is a place of safety. In March 2020, this all changed as Covid-19 hit and my job at a pharmacy on Waiheke Island forced my colleagues and I into the front line as essential workers.
It was like a fever dream, with people panic buying and the once bustling Queen Street was emptied, leaving the traffic lights redundantly cycling through their phases, for no one it seemed.
On the ferry over to work, sometimes I would be the only passenger, which honestly made me feel isolated and lonely.
I was careful not to go out and potentially bring anything to work, but I was always conscious of what viruses I could be bringing back with me.
My home life changed too.
My family understood that I had to work, but were afraid of me bringing Covid-19 home.
Before I came inside, I would put on new clothes, wash my uniform, and bleach my keys and purse. I felt more unsafe at home than anywhere, as I was constantly worried about the possibility of catching and spreading Covid-19 to my family.
I felt like an outcast and a civil servant working at a time when everyone else was locked down.
Grace Foot is now training to become a secondary school teacher. She still works weekends at the Oneroa Pharmacy on Waiheke Island.