By Cheyenne Gain
Lamp writer
JACKSONVILLE – You work at a fast-food restaurant, alone, at night, that’s off a busy highway. A man walks in with a gun; what do you do? Hit the panic button? There isn’t one. Yell for a coworker? No one else is with you. The only option you have is to give them what they want or be shot. How is it fair that employers do not have to provide their employees with a safe working environment?
Haley Schutz, 23, knows what it’s like to fear for your life. She is employed at Subway and has had bad encounters with people who were not so friendly.
“Once, a man came in and was clearly on some kind of drugs, he was screaming and walking weird,” Schutz said.
She had enough time to call the police in the back, before it escalated too much. By the time cops arrived, the man was on the floor talking to himself.
Olivia Garret, another Subway employee, 17, also is forced to work a night shift alone.
“It’s not fair I have to work by myself, I don’t feel safe,” Garret said. “I’m a girl at night, alone. Anything could happen to me.”
Garret has yet to experience anything too horrible, but she has had to call the police for smaller things. One action can be said to escalate the situation, and your life could be over.
McKenzie Walters, 18, a past employee of Subway, said, “I hated closing.”
Walters was employed for more than a year and decided it was time to leave for better pay — and better working conditions.
“It’s not easy doing all the cleaning, helping customers and watching out for yourself,” Walters said.
All of the workers expressed the difficulty of being alone when there was a rush of customers or a frightening experience. All women, they were concerned about safety of working alone.
The three workers said that they talked to the business owner about installing a panic button or working on other security improvements, but they have not had any success.
A few workers interviewed but wished not to be named said they ultimately decided to leave their jobs after working alone. They said they do not feel safe, although they hated being forced to quit their jobs.
Cheyenne Gain can be reached at [email protected]
