# I am an essential employee in a "stay at home" state. Anyone else? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 23, 2020, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072 "2020-03-23T04:01:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/41 "2020-03-26T17:42:59Z")
Apparantly, construction workers are deemed essential as some men are working on the parking area next door and the major construction sites are all working. This is west LA. Im shocked the police havent shut them down. ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/42 "2020-03-26T17:59:31Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > Thanks to “essential employee shopping hour” at a grocery store this morning I was able to not only see but purchase toilet paper for the first time since all this started. There were even several packs left when I checked out. Then when I got home I found out my FIL had dropped off some he bought during his senior shopping hour. See this is one of the things for me, they are not doing anything like that here for us. I have the official letter stating I’m an essential employee, but it means nothing for every day life right now. They want me to go out there and be exposed to easily 50 other people for every round trip I take, but I can’t get toilet paper. Or soap, or wipes or fresh bleach so that I can make my own mix to clean my hotel room and on and on. I feel like we are being scarified for the economy, tell us to get out there and work with out changing anything on their side. We still stay in the cheapest hotels for example. I have no clue how well they are cleaning them. It’s all bullshit. We are seen and treated as expendable. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/43 "2020-03-26T22:21:56Z")
Contractor for IT to a state agency. Considered essential. We’ve slowly been increasing the number of telecommuters as the infrastructure to support them comes online. I will be one of, if not the, last to do that because, my wife works for a ad/marketing firm and they’ve all gone to work from home. Between her taking over the office and the kids being home, I won’t get shit done if I stay home without a major restructuring of the house. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/44 "2020-03-28T19:26:33Z")
Maintenance tech at a USPS processing center. At start of my shift yesterday, my supervisor handed me an “Essential Service Provider Letter” that I am directed to present should I find myself in a “Papers, please” situation. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/45 "2020-03-28T19:30:48Z")
Me. I’ve never said what it is that I do here in Hawaii. But I will say it involves a large hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/46 "2020-03-28T19:38:59Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > tool and die department. …I’d be screwed. Hah. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/47 "2020-03-28T20:02:46Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > tool and die department. …I’d be screwed. Hah. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/48 "2020-03-28T22:08:43Z")
> [@Cell\_Guy](#): > > I’m a fire systems inspector in Illinois. We’ve been deemed essential so I’m still out there doing my thing. The only thing stopping me from doing my job is if a business is closed and I can’t get in. I’ve been surprisingly busy this week. I am a fire systems inspector in Omaha NE. SO far there has been no lack of work. I have a laminated letter in my truck stating that I am essential personnel to show law enforcement in the even my city gets locked down. The letter cites: > [@](#): > > The Fire and Life Safety Service industry has been designated a “Critical Infrastructure Segment” under Presidential Policy Directive 21 and Department of Homeland Security emergency readiness programs implementing the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. 42 U.S.C. § 5195c(e). It is therefore the policy of the United States that these industries continue to function with minimal disruption in the event of an emergency. The Fire and Life Safety Service industry is essential for the continued function of the economy in this time of crisis. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/49 "2020-03-28T22:13:12Z")
I’m a mechanical engineer at an engine company that serves power plants (mostly nuclear); one of our customers took it upon themselves to ensue that the government considers my place of employment to be essential. Upper management sent out a copy of the essential service provider letter last week, since many employees live in counties that have stay-at-home orders (plus, the statewide stay-at-home order goes into effect Monday). Most of the office people are working from home, with only a handful of days scheduled for on-site work; the people who work in production and inspection can’t work from home, so they’ve been split into two shifts to minimize the number of people in the facility. When I am in the office at this point, I’m around so few people that I don’t worry about getting sick. I think I stand more of a chance of developing a respiratory problem from the cans and cans of aerosol spray one of our document control employees uses to hose down half the department several times per day. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/50 "2020-03-28T22:32:01Z")
Yes, I am a postal employee and they have given us letters to show to police if pulled over and questioned. Plus my federal ID badge has an “E” on it which I guess means essential. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/51 "2020-03-28T22:44:53Z")
Essential factory worker in a Nebraska medical supply facility. While the several million insulin syringes that our facility produces every day aren’t really COVID-19 essential, if we shut down, people are gonna notice. My company has banned all out-of-state travel and anyone who does so is placed on unpaid 14 day leave and expected to go home and self-quarantine. Management has also started a program to check everyone for a fever everyday as we file into the building. Anyone reporting for work with a \>100.4 fever gets sent home on PAID leave and told to seek medical care. Like **urbanredneck** , we were given letters from management to explain our traveling to and from work if more severe travel restrictions are put in place. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/52 "2020-03-28T22:46:15Z")
Manufacturing engineer in California. The products that we make at the factory are definitely essential in helping to stop the spread. Most people at the facility can work from home and they are but those of us who touch parts are mandated to go to the plant. I also have a letter that I carry around that says that I am required to go to work but I can’t imagine that I will ever have to flash it. I am in a weird situation. I emailed a resignation letter in January saying that I planned to retire of May 1st. It’s pandemonium right now but I have a sense of calm that I only have to walk through the door 25 more times. My plan of spending retirement traveling around and going to live music is kind of on hold right now. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/53 "2020-03-28T23:18:08Z")
Dang - I don’t have an “essential personnel” letter. I’ll have to ask about one at work tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/54 "2020-03-29T00:27:50Z")
I’m in New York, in the suburbs north of NYC. I’m a tutor, working for myself. In this state, all one-person businesses that haven’t been ordered to close are automatically considered essential. That means I’m still up and running. I’m deeply grateful to Cuomo, the governor of New York State, that I’m allowed to use my little one-person office. Right now, it’s my only source of high-speed internet, without which I would be unemployed. It’s been a crazy scramble getting my in person students to go to online tutoring. I’ve worked with students online since about 2014, so it’s not new to me. But helping families who’d signed up for in-person tutoring go digital quickly, in a way that makes them as comfortable as possible, at a time when so much in the rest of their lives has been upended, has been insanely stressful. I’m doing okay, though I’ll be making less than half of what I would expect at this time of year. Luckily for me, I’ve been living below my means and took on as much work as I could earlier in the school year, so I have a cushion. I realize how lucky I am that I have any income at all. From March 16 through yesterday, I’ve gotten maybe 4 hours of sleep each night. Last night I crashed out early and spent most of today sleeping. It’s amazing how good sleep really is for you. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/55 "2020-03-30T03:47:06Z")
I’m a non-essential employee (in an essential industry) and my job is easy to do from home. So I’m not going to get papers saying I’m essential… I assume. But my son has a friend who sells taxidermied alligators and alligator parts. I guess he sells some of them at gas stations in Florida. My son got this email from his friend: \> Today I received my “critical infrastructure industry employee” letter. \> \> Because I supply products to truck stops and gas stations, I am essential to the transportation & logistics sector and the energy sector. \> I’m now exempt from all local restrictions, curfews, shelter in place orders, and other mobility restrictions. \> \> The Department of Homeland Security thinks I’m critical to the infrastructure of the United States. \> \> \> \> I guess people really need their alligators. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/56 "2020-03-30T12:25:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > \> I guess people really need their alligators. Morale booster! ---
**Author:** ![tampora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@tampora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tampora)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/57 "2020-03-30T14:27:42Z")
I’m a Dish Network installer and have been deemed “essential”. My job is going into 3-5 customer’s homes a day and doing all the cable guy stuff, hooking up receivers, running new cables, etc. Apparently cable tv is the only way for some people to stay informed so I’m “essential” somehow. Needless to say, I’m a weeee bit reluctant atm. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/58 "2020-03-30T15:06:34Z")
I work in a call center contracted to a major bank (I’m not allowed to be more specific), and am in northern California. As of the last time I was at work, on 3/20 (left early due to not feeling well), we were deemed “essential”, which had a lot of people upset about the fact that we’re maybe 4’ from our neighboring co-workers. On that date, there were noises being made about moving people around to get more space between us. Considering there are about 1/4 the agents currently we could hold, it’s feasible if management and IT can get their act together. WFH doesn’t strike me as practical due to info security worries. I personally would not misuse customer info, since I do have morals. I’m not so sure about some of my co-workers, though. I might, however, have problems doing phone work at home with a Siamese who tends to yell at me when I’m on the phone. 🙂 I have been on quarantine per medical advice since 3/20, due to flu-like symptoms. I do not qualify for testing (wasn’t severely ill, 50yo, no pre-existing conditions or known contact with a confirmed positive). I do not know yet if employer is passing out any documentation of essential-ness. They weren’t last time I was there. **tampora** , I honestly don’t blame you, and I don’t intend to submit ANY maintenance requests in my apartment unless it’s a critical problem like a plumbing leak. Safer for maintenance and residents. I wonder just how careful some of my co-workers are, especially the younger men in the “I’m immortal, I’m bullet-proof” stage of life. Worrisome when I know we have several over 60, including great-grandboss who I know is over 70, and more than a few with chronic health issues. Just from conversations with colleagues, I know of three diabetics (one is also over 60 with other health issues) and one lupus patient (also over 60). (My info on ages and health come directly from the individuals in question.) ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/59 "2020-03-30T15:53:36Z")
Judging by what I see on TV, apparently the advertising and television commercial production sectors of our economy are essential. It seems like every consumer based company in the country is running new coronavirus oriented advertising. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072/60 "2020-03-30T19:43:07Z")
I work in what’s considered “infrastructure” (building supplies wholesale) but it’s on the supply side and frankly I fail to see how what we do is actually considered essential. According to the Federal government it is but states do can go above and beyond and deem it non-essential. Michigan has done just that. Here in Ohio I have to go into work. I have mixed emotions because I’m glad I don’t have to file for unemployment (yet) but I am terrified every single day. Our offices and desks are far apart but I come into contact with tons of paperwork daily that is handled by several people. We have Lysol disinfectant and tons of Clorox wipes but I still feel like I’m playing Russian Roulette every time I go to work. My anxiety is in overdrive. At this point I think I’m willing to take the financial hit for 3-4 weeks for us to be shut down. \*Edited to add that my wife, who thankfully is a teacher and at home for the next several months, has asthma so I worry about getting her sick. And, my employer gave us our letters to say we’re “essential” should we get pulled over. I guarantee you the reason my industry is considered essential is about money and lobbying and not grounded in reality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-essential-employee-in-a-stay-at-home-state-anyone-else/850072.md?page=4)