Cashier zu Idar-Oberstein: "I wonder if the act incites other people"

You work as a cashier in a supermarket in a big city; you prefer to remain anonymous for our conversation.

How did you react to the news of the murder of a petrol station worker in Idar-Oberstein?

Julia Anton

Editor in the Society department at FAZ.NET

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The case has preoccupied me for days.

It might as well have happened to any of my colleagues or me.

Everyone who works in retail has been dealing with customers for a year and a half who do not want to adhere to the Corona measures.

I actually have to point out to someone in every shift to please put on the mask.

Now, of course, the question arises: Do one or the other customer still respond to this?

According to his own statements, the perpetrator wanted to set an example and is now being celebrated in some conspiracy networks.

I wonder if the act incites other people, it's not a nice situation.

How have people reacted so far when you have spoken to them?

Some have simply forgotten, that's no problem.

But there are always one or the other who refuses.

Then there are discussions.

I can't even count how many people I've had to send off the store because of that.

So far I've never had to call the police, luckily it has never escalated that much.

Since the murder in Idar-Oberstein, I haven't really had to ask anyone to put on their mask.

I don't know yet whether I might give in to the next situation.

Have you ever felt threatened?

I personally don't.

I've been doing the job for 15 years and training Taekwondo, I can defend myself.

In retail we are used to the fact that there are always customers who use us like doormats.

You develop thick skin.

The deed in Idar-Oberstein, however, is on a different level: Here someone came back with a gun and shot a colleague in the face.

Martial arts don't help either.

Are you talking to your colleagues about the case?

Yes, we are all concerned with that. We are urged to make sure that the rules are observed. If we don't do that, there will be trouble with the public order office. I don't know if they understand that now. I could well understand when colleagues decide not to address a customer. Self-protection actually comes first, and we can't look people in the head. There has not yet been an instruction from the very top to continue to strictly enforce the obligation. I have a feeling that the managers themselves don't know what to say to their employees. It is different whether I, as a manager, say what needs to be done, or whether I, as the cashier, have to represent it to the customer. Nobody has thought about it yetthat we could put ourselves in a dangerous situation with a reference to the mask requirement.

Are there customers with whom you have to regularly discuss the mask requirement?

No, but that's because I'm banned from the house relatively quickly if I have to say something more than once.

The corresponding customers then no longer come in.

But that certainly differs from market to market.

Would you like security from security personnel?

Of course, that too depends on the state of the market and the extent to which there is a need.

The market in which I work is in a nightlife district.

That's why we already have security staff on site in the evenings, but I would really like them to be there around the clock.

According to the trade association, there are no widespread problems in enforcing the mask requirement.

How do you perceive that?

The vast majority of customers naturally adhere to the rules, that's true.

The problem is: the customers who don't want to put on a mask are also the ones who directly cause a lot of stress.

Sometimes they make a real riot, so that you have to ban them from the house or even call the police in an emergency.

That is only a small part, but I would still like a clear statement from the association.

Every seller is now basically a target.

I don't care whether it's a widespread problem or not, because we've just seen: it's enough for a customer to freak out, pull out a gun and shoot.

What kind of support do you want now?

On the one hand, that the companies make it clear once again: The self-protection of us employees must always have priority, and that in case of doubt it is okay for us cashiers to hold back.

On the other hand, that people are thinking more about security again - even if of course I don't know to what extent security personnel would have had the opportunity to intervene in Idar-Oberstein.

Do we also need more support from society?

In any case. At the beginning of the pandemic it was still said: We are systemically relevant, there was applause, the customers were much friendlier. That is gone. It would be nice to feel more support again - also politically. In my opinion, many great politicians like Armin Laschet reacted too vaguely. CDU Bundestag candidate Friedrich Merz only spoke on Twitter on Thursday of “social dissent” that arises from the mask requirement. Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner only spoke of "different perspectives" on the corona rules in connection with the murder. Such statements play down the murder in Idar-Oberstein and the increasing aggressiveness in our society. The AfD held back anyway. Shortly before the election, I wishthat everyone includes in their decision how politicians express themselves. We are more than three million employees in retail. Everyone in our society knows someone who works there. Any of us could have been that victim.