'I feel more like a bouncer than a hostess': Front-line workers shoulder burden of vaccine mandates
CBC
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Service industry workers in Canada say they're bearing the brunt of anger, frustration and general confusion from clients over new vaccine mandates that they had nothing to do with creating, but are now responsible for enforcing.
At the entrance to Wienstein & Gavino's, an Italian restaurant in downtown Montreal, hostess Abigail Trevino is standing at the ready to greet clients and ask them for their proof of vaccination.
"I try to diffuse the situation usually with a joke, saying that I feel more like a bouncer than a hostess these days," said Trevino. "Usually people laugh at that and it's enough to break the tension."
For the most part, she said, people have been understanding of Quebec's vaccine passport system, which came into effect on Sept. 1. Occasionally she's had customers who were annoyed or frustrated, but no one who was outright aggressive.
"I had someone get quite visibly annoyed with me, but he did actually come back and apologize afterwards and say, 'I realize that you don't make the rules; I'm sorry I lost my temper.'"
The challenge, more than anything, has been the extra work. "It's basically doubled the workload," Trevino said.
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