Keeping city (and baby) fed
When Lucy Fortune gets home from working at the Met Fresh supermarket in Bushwick each day, she hides so that her 1-yearold son can’t see her coming in.
“I get rid of all my dirty clothes, strip down and shower. About 30 minutes later, I go give him a hug,” Fortune, a 26-year-old assistant manager at the Brooklyn grocery store, told The Post.
“I am concerned about infecting my family. It is a big concern,” she said. “When I took thisjob...Ididn’tthink[aglobal pandemic] would happen.”
But Fortune (right), who’s getting ready to graduate from nursing school, knows she plays an important role as an essential worker and has to be there not just for hungry New Yorkers, but also for her staff.
“You never know what you’re walking into. But as the assistant manager, you show up to work in order to show some form of encouragement, especially for my fellow employees,” said Fortune, who lives in Canarsie with her husband and son.
When the pandemic first struck, “Everyone was scared,” she recalled, and the workers had to deal with the initial crowds of panicked shoppers.
“People were hoarding stuff. Customers were aggressive. They didn’t understand why they were limited to certain stuff at the time, like toilet paper and water.”
After a few weeks, the store caught up to the crisis. Masks, gloves and hand sanitizer finally arrived, while plexiglass shields were installed at cash registers. The store added marks on the floor to remind customers to stand six feet apart and limited the number of shoppers allowed to 10 a t time.
Fortune, who makes minimum wage plus overtime, was working close to 50 hours a week at the height of the crisis, but now things have “simmered down,” allowing her to focus on her family and her coursework at Mildred Elley.
She’s still scared about having to commute from Canarsie to Bushwick on the subway and terrified she’ll bring the virus home to her family. But she knows she can’t stop now.
“As an essential worker, I need to show support and encouragement for everyone else,” Fortune said.
“You need to put your fear behind you and walk with faith.”