In the second part of our series marking a year since Boris Johnson told the country to Stay At Home, supermarket worker Jo Bennett-McNally recalls how the world suddenly changed.
Jo, 44, is a store manager for Morrisons, in St Helen’s, Merseyside. She lives with her police officer husband, Mark, 43, and their five-year-old daughter, Winter.
In February 2020, I remember just a handful of people were coming into stores wearing masks.
When the announcement of the first lockdown came when I was on a late shift and I remember the store going really quiet.
Driving to work, I was seeing McDonalds shut and the roads empty, it was really strange and you knew it was serious. There was a sense of fear.
Your first instinct is to keep your family safe. Hand gels and masks started to come in and we embraced it.
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Then the store got really busy - people were obviously buying more than they really needed, toilet roll was the big thing, then pastas. Morrisons was really quick to react and we had to put a two or three limit on what you could buy so to secure stock for those that needed it.
At first customers seemed very nervous but then coming to a
supermarket almost gave them a sense of normality. I spent most of my time at the front of the door saying, “you OK?” and talking to regulars.
We had a customer who came in every day who began shielding. Because we knew them we were able to take them food and ensure they were fine.
Tension was high in the first lockdown but then seemed to calm down.
We had a lot of customers being appreciative - probably more than any of us in retail ever have before.
Just the other day a customer said, “I just want to say, ‘thank you’, you might not have heard it for a while but you are here to help us when we need it.”
That really boosts the team to know that. In summer it felt like mask wearing and gels were really abundant and everyone was starting to return to normal, then the figures spoke differently and we went into lockdown again.
We felt equipped to deal with it though. Customers were aware of different ways of shopping. The whole thing has been a massive education.
Christmas was Christmas. Retail can be a good place to be at Christmas. It didn’t feel a lot different - some people were quite subdued and it wasn’t the celebration it usually is but we all had a great time.
It was silly things like wearing Christmas jumpers, to keep everyone’s spirits up - the team and customers.
It felt normal on some days. We’d usually have a party but we’ve said we’ll make up for it when lockdown is gone.
At home it was really quiet, just me, my husband and my five-year-old. She got lots of attention so was fine with it.
Kids adapt so quickly, she talks about it like it’s everyday life now. I look at her and think, ‘she’s been through so much already’. It’s hard, she’s missed days out and parties, we’ve had to cancel three holidays. I try and keep her as active as we can, we’re having a board games night tonight.
I always worry about the safety of my husband who is a police officer but this year it was intensified by the possibility of either of us contracting Covid, as we both work with the public and how we would look after our daughter.
But we’re both really pleased we could help during a time of crisis, for our communities and our country - we’re proud we’ve been key workers.
I feel lucky my job is secure - a lot aren’t so lucky in retail. I know some people who have had Covid but none have been really poorly.
I have Covid at the minute, maybe I’m one of the lucky ones, it feels like I have a heavy cold. Driving to work I was eating in the car and I realised I’d lost my sense of taste and smell, so I’m isolating.
This lockdown has been hard because there’s no nice sunshine. It’s been so cold, a lot of film nights, a lot of food consumed. The Government starting to talk about coming out of lockdown gives hope to us all.
I look forward to customers who have been shielding returning to us.
