Thank You, Overworked Retail & Service Employees of Connecticut

If you work in a restaurant, fast food joint, pharmacy, or retail store in Connecticut, I want to say something unusual to you - thank you for going to work today.

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I've seen many haggard faces, wearily staring back at me from behind those counters and cash registers. You may have to deal with Karen after Karen, but I see what you're going through, and I appreciate you. Why am I doing this? Because of a conversation that I had at 5 this morning.

I stopped at a Dunkin' in Brookfield, and after a slight delay, the employee informed me that two people had called out, leaving her all alone, and had no one for backup. I felt so bad for her, but she said it was becoming more normal by the day. What has happened to work ethic? It's amazing how often I've heard 'No Call, No Show' blurted out after an apology.

What can you do in those situations? You work at a national retailer, and your human resources have dried up? The feeling of helplessness has got to be so overwhelming.

I saw another employee rage against the corporate machine on Torrington social media over the weekend in the Facebook group Original T-Town Chatter. An employee at my pharmacy, the CVS on Farley Place in Torrington, posted a warning. In it, the employee stated that due to a lack of pharmacy techs, cut hours, new patients and prescriptions, they were running 1200+ scripts behind, and to please be patient with them.

The next time that you have the urge to complain that whatever is taking too long, please keep in mind that most of these situations are out of the employee's control. Believe me, if they could get you out of there any quicker, they would.

Anyway, thank you for showing up to work today. I think you needed to hear that.