At the height of the COVID 19 pandemic in New York, I went to work with Matthew Staudle, a sales representative in the alcohol distribution industry on Long Island, to explore a day in the life of an essential worker.
At the time, Matthew’s job entailed working inside one of the most considerably hazardous places during the outbreak: grocery stores. Matthew Staudle is a sales rep for Clare Rose, the company behind Budweiser. His role consists of going from store to store, ensuring supermarkets are fully stocked on Clare Rose beer products, placing purchase orders when needed.
With alcohol sales at an all-time high during COVID, his line of work was deemed essential. Rightfully so, doctors and nurses were praised for their heroism in the fight against COVID. But what I wanted to highlight was someone in an industry overlooked, also forced to wake up every day, dawn a mask and put their health at risk for the sake of their livelihood.
While millions were laid off and Matthew is fortunate to have a job that is pandemic proof, it came with substantial risk. Now, New York is opening. We are finding a new status quo, returning to offices, or continuing to work remotely. For Matthew, there was no break, no transition to remote work, only adaptation.