Darcy Gluyas had hundreds, if not thousands, of conversations at the checkout at Brighton Foodland during the pandemic

One of the quiet heroes of the Covid epidemic, Darcy Gluyas was focused on safety but he kept the conversation going from behind the checkout at Brighton Foodland.

For Darcy Gluyas, the Covid pandemic has been made up of hundreds – if not thousands – of short conversations from behind the checkout at Brighton Foodland.

As customers adapted to change after change in nearly every aspect of life, the 18-year-old knew he had an important role to play.

“You might be the only person people see for the day,” he said.

“People really want to talk, and a lot of it has been about the pandemic itself. Sometimes that meant having the same conversation over and over ... Netflix was also a big one.”

Darcy said he never thought twice about coming in to work, even in the early stages of the pandemic when little was known about the spread of the virus.

“The first day it blew up properly, I got called in to work,” he said.

Brighton Foodland checkout operator Darcy Gluyas said he and his colleagues have maintained a strong focus on safety during the pandemic. Picture: Brenton Edwards

“I couldn’t get a park anywhere, I just parked on a one-way street and went straight in. It was the busiest day I’ve ever worked. We had one person scanning, one person packing, every checkout open.

“I remember I walked out and I had a parking ticket!”

As well managing panic buying and long lines, and enforcing purchase limits on household items, Darcy and his colleagues implemented a strong focus on safety – and they’ve maintained it ever since.

He said it was important that customers could be confident every possible measure was being taken to keep them healthy, and that they felt safe while shopping.

“People really do appreciate it, they’ll often say ‘thank you for cleaning that’, and you know that you’re doing the right thing,” he said.

Beyond work, Darcy said there were times he opted not to see his grandparents because of the risk of exposing them to Covid but he has now resumed having breakfast with his grandma once a week.

He was also juggling disrupted year 12 studies at Sacred Heart College, where he was the footy captain in 2020, and has recently completed his first year of a social work degree.

Foodland Supermarkets chief executive Franklin dos Santos praised staff of all ages for continuing to go above and beyond during the pandemic.

“As a business, we wouldn’t have been able to continue to serve our loyal Foodland customers each day and keep our shelves stocked with all the necessities across our 95-store network without the help of our strong, committed staff,” he said.

Franklin dos Santos said staff of all ages have continued to go above and beyond during the pandemic. Picture: Brenton Edwards

“Arriving to work for each shift through state lockdowns and Covid clusters, these staff have braved the current climate, worked hours behind a mask or a safety screen and at times been exposed to upset or anxious shoppers, for the benefit of each South Australian.

“And for that, we are extremely grateful and say thank you.”