When quitting your job feels like the only option – By Laura Entis (VOX) / Sept 21 2021
How a potent mix of frustration and optimism led to the Great Resignation.
Working at a big-box pet-supply store was never easy. The job involved washing, grooming, and styling often anxious dogs, as well as pacifying their equally anxious owners. The hours could be long, the schedule unpredictable. But for nearly five years, Zoe Hoffeld managed.
And then the pandemic hit. After closing for a couple months in spring 2020, the dog salon in Martha’s Vineyard reopened. Understaffed, the store pressured Hoffeld, who uses they/them pronouns, to bathe or groom upwards of seven dogs a day, in addition to scheduling appointments and making reminder calls.
The safety precautions were lackluster to nonexistent. What’s more, the AC didn’t work; neither did the pipes, which caused the bathroom, as well as the area where dogs were washed, to regularly flood. A plumber was called in, but the recommended fix — shut down the location for a week to address the problem — went unheeded.
And then there were the customers, whose expectations — against the backdrop of a deadly pandemic — took on a surreal quality. Hoffeld could put hours into a single dog haircut, and have an owner respond with dissatisfaction. While most clients were understanding, others demanded fluffy perfection. “We’re human,” Hoffeld says. “We try our best and do our best but ultimately our job is to make the dog comfortable.”
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