Supermarket worker pens an open letter to panic-buying ‘Karens’ who flout social distancing rules

Aldi worker scolds Melbourne panic buyers who stormed into supermarkets just hours after Stage 4 lockdown was announced – but says there’s one item they still have LOADS of out the back

  • Olivia Crockford penned open letter to Victorians who flouted lockdown rules
  • She worked 6am Monday, hours after the state went into stage four restrictions
  • The 32-year-old asked people to stop panic buying and be hygienic at shops

An Aldi worker has penned an open letter to customers who have been flouting social distancing rules hours after Victoria went into stage four lockdown.

Olivia Crockford made the desperate plea on Monday after finding people were not adhering to the new COVID-19 restrictions.

The 32-year-old, who works for Aldi at Patterson Lakes in Melbourne’s south-east, started her shift at 6am on Monday – just hours after Premier Daniel Andrews announced the city would enter the strict lockdown.  

‘This is a letter to the people of Melbourne. I am a supermarket worker and today was hard,’ Ms Crockford wrote on Facebook late on Monday.

Olivia Crockford (pictured) made the desperate plea on Monday after finding people were not adhering to the new COVID-19 restrictions

The 32-year-old, who works at Patterson lakes in Melbourne's south-east, started her shift at 6am on Monday - just hours after Premier Daniel Andrews announced the city would enter the strict lockdown

The 32-year-old, who works at Patterson lakes in Melbourne’s south-east, started her shift at 6am on Monday – just hours after Premier Daniel Andrews announced the city would enter the strict lockdown

Ms Crockford thanked some kind customers who had been ‘quick, polite and respectful’ but condemned selfish shoppers.

‘To people panic buying, please just stop unless it’s toilet paper,’ Ms Crockford wrote. ‘We have loads out the back and could use the space.

‘To the people complaining about the panic buyers but also having a trolley full to the brim of items, you don’t fool us.’

The supermarket employee told customers who continuously asked in a panic when the store will have more meat to ‘buy responsibly’. 

‘To the old lady who stuck her hand under her mask to lick her finger so she could separate her notes, I hope my delivery was kind yet stern enough that you now know that that practice is unacceptable in the current climate. (Well, really at any time. It’s super gross.),’ she wrote. 

Melbourne’s restrictions came into place from 6pm Sunday and will run for six weeks before being reevaluated on September 13. 

'To people panic buying, please just stop unless it's toilet paper. We have loads out the back and could use the space,' Ms Crockford wrote (empty shelves at a Woolworths store on Sunday)

‘To people panic buying, please just stop unless it’s toilet paper. We have loads out the back and could use the space,’ Ms Crockford wrote (empty shelves at a Woolworths store on Sunday)

Ms Crockford thanked kind customers who had been 'quick, polite and respectful'

Ms Crockford thanked kind customers who had been ‘quick, polite and respectful’

Under the ‘stage four’ restrictions, Melbourne residents will only be allowed to exercise for an hour a day and can’t travel more than 5km from home for the purpose of shopping.

Only one person from each household will be able to go to the shops each day.

Metropolitan Melbourne will be under a nightly curfew, between the hours of 8pm to 5am, from Sunday night with some exemptions for those providing care and travelling to and from work.

But despite the strict rules, Ms Crockford said she noticed several people flouting social distancing measures.

But despite the strict rules, Ms Crockford said she noticed several people flouting social distancing measures

But despite the strict rules, Ms Crockford said she noticed several people flouting social distancing measures

In her open letter Ms Crockford questioned why customers were shopping more than once a day.

‘Did you really need to come back again?’ she wrote.

‘To the regulars I serve every day sometimes twice a day same question.’ 

However the Aldi worker said the media coverage of  ‘Karens’ who had harangued service staff had led many shoppers to be more considerate of workers. 

‘To the “Karens” (I know you find that term problematic, sorry) in the media last week, thank you for reminding everyone else to be kind to the retail staff,’ she wrote.

Ms Crockford chose to write the letter after working a ‘long shift’ and feeling emotional about the stage four restrictions.

While she was hopeful the tougher measures would stop the spread of coronavirus, part of her also wishes the lockdown happened weeks ago.

‘It’s disheartening,’ she said.   

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk