Non-essential worker The pandemic has pitted Stop & Shop employees against a 140-pound hunk of plastic and metal with googly eyes Grocery shopping in 2020 is an emotional roller coaster. After strapping on your mask and thoroughly sanitizing your cart, you plot out the quickest, most efficient way to navigate the store, grab your items, and get out. Every surface looms like a germ-covered threat, you hold your breath when people pass, and you go to great lengths to ensure you don't get too close to fellow shoppers — exchanging pointed, disapproving glances the second someone disregards the one-way aisle arrow. No matter how careful you are, maintaining distance from your fellow shoppers isn't always possible. And an incessantly beeping 140-pound hunk of plastic and metal with googly eyes hovering by your side and blocking the aisles certainly doesn't make things easier.