Robert Solomon, 71, works as an assistant buyer in produce at an independent market in New York, a role he describes as the best job he has had. After his hours were cut during the pandemic at a nonprofit where he did building management and tech support, he took an extra job at a food cooperative stocking shelves. That job ended with the pandemic, but in 2022 he left the nonprofit and sought grocery positions.
A Morning Routine of Physical Work
Solomon often starts at 5.30am or 6am. “I put the rugs back on the floor and the carts out in the yard. And then I start stocking.” He enjoys tending to certain products, like dandelion greens. “I have a little bucket of water and I swish them around head first so they’re fresher again. We have to restock broccoli many times a day, and I like that.” When in order, he says, “it makes a sea of broccoli.”
“I love the opportunity to do physical, creative work with my body, hands and mind,” he says. “I’m working harder than I have since my 30s, and I love it.” He notes the work requires good attention, meaning his mind doesn’t wander often. “One of the big attractions is that it’s a low-fantasy job. I spend most of my time working, not fantasising about what a wonderful job I’m doing and how I’ll get famous for it next year.”
From a Family of Immigrants to a New Path
Solomon grew up in Brooklyn, five miles from the shop. His mother was a musician turned director of a daycare centre, his father a professor of art history. “They were first-generation immigrants from Russia, and to them it was a step up to be doing something technical or managerial.” He left school at 17, got his degree at 46 with independent study and life credits, and worked as a house painter, handyman and cabinet maker for most of his career.
He previously aspired to be a computer programmer, an interfaith minister and a nurse practitioner, but “in each case things went terribly wrong.” At one interview to be an emergency medical technician, he was asked if he would cross a picket line. “No way,” he said. “My mother would roll over in her grave.” His application was dropped into the bin.
Lessons from His Mother
Solomon sometimes feels his late parents would disapprove of his grocery job, but he recalls his mother’s saying: “Stop running around like a chicken with your head cut off!” She explained that as a girl, her family had a shop on their porch, and she would kill chickens for customers. In his produce work, he says, “all these things I learned from her that she didn’t mean to teach me are coming back. … She knew how to clean lettuce and she knew how to pick a good apple. I’m like: ‘That’s how I know all of this.’”
Initially, shop work was challenging; on the subway home, it was hard to stand up again. “But now it feels fine,” he says. “I feel quieter mentally. My knees hurt less. I feel stronger. There are no guarantees on how long I will be able to work. But I think this is the best employment I’ve had. It’s an appreciation of good things.”
