And of course, I’m afraid to catch the coronavirus. More than 300 customers come in each day. I’m constantly reminding people to stay six feet apart, but there’s no way to limit the number of people in the store, especially when I’m the only person working.

We’ve always had a lot of homeless customers and I make sure to treat them with respect. But it’s scary to have so many people in close quarters who can’t take care of basic hygiene, especially since we don’t have enough protective equipment. We receive small shipments of gloves every couple of weeks, but always run out within a few days. We didn’t receive any masks until mid-April. There are no plexiglass barriers around the registers. When someone coughs, I joke with them — “We have a strict one-cough-per-customer limit!” — to let them know I’m watching and they need to keep their distance. But I’m on edge throughout my shift.

I was bringing my own mask to work with me, and I got a sinus infection. But I didn’t want to call out, because I don’t have any paid sick leave; and 92 percent of surveyed Dollar General workers believe they don’t either. Recently the company, which owns many of the dollar stores in the state, announced that we can take paid time off if we contract the coronavirus, but we still can’t get tested, so I don’t know how much that’s worth.

Now that my 4-year-old daughter Harmony’s school is closed, I have to quickly line up child care when I get my work schedule. My manager posts the schedule in advance, but it changes often, so I always have to check it. My better half has worked the same job for 10 years and our family counts on that income. Since he works nights, I try to make sure he gets enough rest during the day. It would be great to work only when he can take care of Harmony, but I was hired with “open availability” which means I have to be ready for any shift. If I tried to limit my availability now, my hours would probably be cut in half and we can’t afford that.