Review 711: Cleanup on Aisle Five

Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register by Ann Larson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author, Ann Larson, found herself needing a job just as the pandemic began. Despite having several degrees no one was hiring, except at essential places like the grocery store. Larson was able to hire in at a supervisor level for the front-end, overseeing the cashiers.

What started as an article turned into this book. Which means the book is not quite the cohesive narrative with a driving force of a premise. Larson provides instead a retelling of her own experiences working at a grocery supermarket.

There are many interesting points in the book about how people are treated, how the job affects them physically, and the author's response to demands by management. Larson sides with the workers whenever possible. It's a low paying, high turnover job that's very demanding, particularly physically. One cannot help but sympathize with the employees trying to manage pain while doing a job that is physically demanding.

Larson ends the book with ways that grocery stores can do better for their employees. Better pay to start with, but also better health care would certainly help as well. It’s hard to say what customers can do to help, but perhaps not using the self-checkout machines? It’s worth reading this book just for her experiences with these machines. Unfortunately, they seem to be multiplying instead of diminishing.

Thanks to Atria-One Signal Publishers and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.