Curbside grocery service is great for customers, but these Kroger workers say they don't feel safer

As early as April 8, the United States Labor Department recommended that any stores with the capacity to do so should transition to either drive-through or curbside pick-up as a way to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus through social distancing. It's a service many U.S. grocery store chains like Kroger and Ralphs already had in place, but according to some store employees the increase in online orders hasn't left them feeling any safer. Jacobson, who is immunocompromised, said she was being pulled away from working the deli counter to fulfilling pickup orders — a "less customer-facing position," she says — but she quit three weeks ago when she realized that working the pickup orders means shopping alongside customers who aren't necessarily adhering to best practices for social distancing. "That way we could use the entire store as space to fulfill orders without having to be in contact with customers all day, too," she said. Tipping is against official company policy — per Kroger's website and Twitter, "while it is appreciated, our associates do not accept tips" — but several employees with whom I spoke reported an increase in customers leaving envelopes of cash in their trunks or inquiring how to Venmo or Paypal them a tip.