Item
JB Oral History, 2022/05/04
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
JB Oral History, 2022/05/04
Description (Dublin Core)
A garden working attending the University at Buffalo speaks about the difficulties and changes experienced during the outbreak of COVID-19.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
May 4, 2022
Creator (Dublin Core)
LT
JB
Contributor (Dublin Core)
LT
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
HIS459
Partner (Dublin Core)
University at Buffalo
Type (Dublin Core)
oral history
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Agriculture
English
Economy
English
Health & Wellness
English
Labor
English
Social Distance
English
Rural
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
vaccine
labor
agriculture
employment
unemployment
social distance
wages
working hours
Collection (Dublin Core)
Mental Health
Working Students
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
05/06/2022
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
05/09/2022
05/11/2022
Date Created (Dublin Core)
05/04/2022
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
LT
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
JB
Location (Omeka Classic)
14228
Buffalo
New York
United States of America
Format (Dublin Core)
Audio
Coverage (Dublin Core)
March 2020 - Present
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:07:08
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
LT 0:00
All right. So it is Wednesday, May 4 at 11:30pm. And I am here with JB. All right. So, how old are you?
JB 0:14
I am 21.
LT 0:16
Okay. And do I have your consent to post and record this for JOTPY?
JB 0:22
Yeah.
LT 0:24
Did you work during the pandemic?
JB 0:25
I did, I worked a job at a garden center from April on.
LT 0:33
Were your working hours affected by the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic? And if so, how?
JB 0:39
They were not affected because I got the job post lockdown.
LT 0:48
Has your transportation method changed since the initial outbreak? Or did it change at all?
JB 0:54
It has not really changed just because of the accessibility of cars at my household.
LT 1:02
And for your job. Did you transition to a virtual format? At any point during the pandemic?
JB 1:07
No. I worked outside for a very long time.
LT 1:12
Even during like the outbreak and --
JB 1:13
Yes, yes.
With precautions, of course.
LT 1:18
Did your employer reduce the amount of workers present at the workplace at one time following the outbreak? So did they were there less employees? Or
JB 1:25
I think there was a normal amount to a little less than normal amount when of workers but since it was outside there were less precaut--or there could have been more workers working together.
LT 1:43
Right, so not like a big reduction?
JB 1:45
Yeah.
LT 1:47
And, uh, you hinted at this before, but were you expected to follow strict cleaning procedures like wiping down any countertops or sinks or even outside doing anything?
JB 1:58
Based where I was working at we did not have to clean anything but the cashiers did have to clean the surface after someone has already, like, come through with their plants and everything.
LT 2:12
Okay, and that was at each customer like--
JB 2:15
Yeah, each customer they wiped it down.
LT 2:17
Okay.
JB 2:18
And the keypads and everything.
LT 2:19
Uh, were the store hours changed at all?
JB 2:23
I do not believe they were changed because I did not, um, I did not I was not working there pre COVID.
LT 2:38
Okay. And did you tend to see an increase in sanitary awareness among other coworkers, despite just the policies that were in place?
JB 2:45
Yes, there were many people that took to their own precautions and did their own sanitary needs for, for when communicating with people and going face to face with people.
LT 3:01
Okay. And did the tasks assigned to you at work change? Due to the pandemic? Were you doing anything different? Or was it just the same? Pretty much the same job role and same tasks?
JB 3:12
Oh, it was the same job roles. I was driving heavy machinery as well, I was driving dump load trucks all over the Fingerlakes area.
LT 3:28
Did you notice co workers leaving or new workers joining after the outbreak? Was there a turnover of employees due to the--or?
JB 3:34
there was a small turnover of employees just because some people quit, and then like one or two people quit while the rest of us mainly stayed and worked through the days in the summer.
LT 3:52
Were your wages affected by the pandemic at all?
JB 3:55
To my knowledge, no, because I did not know the pay grade befo--pre pandemic.
LT 4:02
Okay. Did your employer reduce any health benefits due to the pandemic? Or was anything kind of taken back?
I did not have any health benefits because I was just a minimum wage worker out in the backyard.
And did it become more difficult to juggle both your personal and professional life during this time?
JB 4:23
during this time? Very little but yes, it was affected just because I was, um, trying to work while also keeping up with schoolwork. From from the time that I was sent home from Penn State.
LT 4:40
Were you forced to rely on government subsidies like unemployment or anything? Or were you just staying with work?
JB 4:47
I stayed with work. I had friends that took government subsidies but I did not.
LT 4:53
Okay. And you said, um, you had to follow clean or health precautions like wearing masking social distancing. Did that make your work any more difficult?
JB 5:04
Not really, because I wore a gator or something around my neck to lift up whenever I was talking to customers on to other people. But when I was just by myself, I put it down.
LT 5:17
And in your opinion, did your work environment become less friendly or kind of more just work oriented? After the pandemic? Did people want to just stay by themselves and not really communicate?
JB 5:28
It was more frie--it was still friendly. Like there was I feel like there was barely a change just because everyone was doing their same work. But just with masks.
LT 5:38
Did you experience an increase in stressful working?
JB 5:43
I mean, the job is pretty stressful. But there was I don't I wouldn't say that there was an increase in stress.
LT 5:51
Did you experience a lack of motivation to work or even keep your job during the early months of the outbreak?
JB 5:59
I focused on keeping my job just because I, um, wanted to make money while the pandemic was going.
LT 6:10
Do you feel the mask and vaccine mandates were handled well, and should they have been used to determine the employment eligibility?
JB 6:17
I feel like they should have been more--they should have been specified more to different types of jobs to where people outside can be more lenient to when they are working. And the vaccine mandates should have been a little more up to the person themselves. Because they should people shouldn't be wearing masks if they don't want to vaccinate.
LT 6:42
Did your family experience any hardship as a result of job loss or any other pandemic complications?
JB 6:49
My mom had to travel to Corning for five weeks straight so that way she could keep her job at the hospital. And then once the travel order was lifted, then she came back home.
LT 7:06
Alright, thank you for your time.
JB 7:07
No problem.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
All right. So it is Wednesday, May 4 at 11:30pm. And I am here with JB. All right. So, how old are you?
JB 0:14
I am 21.
LT 0:16
Okay. And do I have your consent to post and record this for JOTPY?
JB 0:22
Yeah.
LT 0:24
Did you work during the pandemic?
JB 0:25
I did, I worked a job at a garden center from April on.
LT 0:33
Were your working hours affected by the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic? And if so, how?
JB 0:39
They were not affected because I got the job post lockdown.
LT 0:48
Has your transportation method changed since the initial outbreak? Or did it change at all?
JB 0:54
It has not really changed just because of the accessibility of cars at my household.
LT 1:02
And for your job. Did you transition to a virtual format? At any point during the pandemic?
JB 1:07
No. I worked outside for a very long time.
LT 1:12
Even during like the outbreak and --
JB 1:13
Yes, yes.
With precautions, of course.
LT 1:18
Did your employer reduce the amount of workers present at the workplace at one time following the outbreak? So did they were there less employees? Or
JB 1:25
I think there was a normal amount to a little less than normal amount when of workers but since it was outside there were less precaut--or there could have been more workers working together.
LT 1:43
Right, so not like a big reduction?
JB 1:45
Yeah.
LT 1:47
And, uh, you hinted at this before, but were you expected to follow strict cleaning procedures like wiping down any countertops or sinks or even outside doing anything?
JB 1:58
Based where I was working at we did not have to clean anything but the cashiers did have to clean the surface after someone has already, like, come through with their plants and everything.
LT 2:12
Okay, and that was at each customer like--
JB 2:15
Yeah, each customer they wiped it down.
LT 2:17
Okay.
JB 2:18
And the keypads and everything.
LT 2:19
Uh, were the store hours changed at all?
JB 2:23
I do not believe they were changed because I did not, um, I did not I was not working there pre COVID.
LT 2:38
Okay. And did you tend to see an increase in sanitary awareness among other coworkers, despite just the policies that were in place?
JB 2:45
Yes, there were many people that took to their own precautions and did their own sanitary needs for, for when communicating with people and going face to face with people.
LT 3:01
Okay. And did the tasks assigned to you at work change? Due to the pandemic? Were you doing anything different? Or was it just the same? Pretty much the same job role and same tasks?
JB 3:12
Oh, it was the same job roles. I was driving heavy machinery as well, I was driving dump load trucks all over the Fingerlakes area.
LT 3:28
Did you notice co workers leaving or new workers joining after the outbreak? Was there a turnover of employees due to the--or?
JB 3:34
there was a small turnover of employees just because some people quit, and then like one or two people quit while the rest of us mainly stayed and worked through the days in the summer.
LT 3:52
Were your wages affected by the pandemic at all?
JB 3:55
To my knowledge, no, because I did not know the pay grade befo--pre pandemic.
LT 4:02
Okay. Did your employer reduce any health benefits due to the pandemic? Or was anything kind of taken back?
I did not have any health benefits because I was just a minimum wage worker out in the backyard.
And did it become more difficult to juggle both your personal and professional life during this time?
JB 4:23
during this time? Very little but yes, it was affected just because I was, um, trying to work while also keeping up with schoolwork. From from the time that I was sent home from Penn State.
LT 4:40
Were you forced to rely on government subsidies like unemployment or anything? Or were you just staying with work?
JB 4:47
I stayed with work. I had friends that took government subsidies but I did not.
LT 4:53
Okay. And you said, um, you had to follow clean or health precautions like wearing masking social distancing. Did that make your work any more difficult?
JB 5:04
Not really, because I wore a gator or something around my neck to lift up whenever I was talking to customers on to other people. But when I was just by myself, I put it down.
LT 5:17
And in your opinion, did your work environment become less friendly or kind of more just work oriented? After the pandemic? Did people want to just stay by themselves and not really communicate?
JB 5:28
It was more frie--it was still friendly. Like there was I feel like there was barely a change just because everyone was doing their same work. But just with masks.
LT 5:38
Did you experience an increase in stressful working?
JB 5:43
I mean, the job is pretty stressful. But there was I don't I wouldn't say that there was an increase in stress.
LT 5:51
Did you experience a lack of motivation to work or even keep your job during the early months of the outbreak?
JB 5:59
I focused on keeping my job just because I, um, wanted to make money while the pandemic was going.
LT 6:10
Do you feel the mask and vaccine mandates were handled well, and should they have been used to determine the employment eligibility?
JB 6:17
I feel like they should have been more--they should have been specified more to different types of jobs to where people outside can be more lenient to when they are working. And the vaccine mandates should have been a little more up to the person themselves. Because they should people shouldn't be wearing masks if they don't want to vaccinate.
LT 6:42
Did your family experience any hardship as a result of job loss or any other pandemic complications?
JB 6:49
My mom had to travel to Corning for five weeks straight so that way she could keep her job at the hospital. And then once the travel order was lifted, then she came back home.
LT 7:06
Alright, thank you for your time.
JB 7:07
No problem.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Item sets
This item was submitted on May 6, 2022 by [anonymous user] using the form “Upload” on the site “Oral Histories”: https://covid-19archive.org/s/oralhistory
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