Cleon

We'll start with some background information: your full name, where you grew up, and how long you have lived here.

My full name is Cleon Cole, and I grew up in Jamaica.

How did you hear about the position in the building?

From a friend.

Would you say there was a quick turnaround between your first day of applying and your first day of working?

Took a week to start.

And how long have you been in the building?

Since 2018.

And what does a typical day look like for you?

Providing the essential services that the tenants need in the building. Tenants are the ones that need the services most in the building.

And are there any days you prefer over others? For instance, weekends versus weekdays? Or is there a time of the day you prefer?

I don’t work on weekends anymore, so that’s something I enjoy.

And what days of the week or times of the day are busiest for you?

Every day. Every day is as busy as the next.

And what do you most look forward to in the day?

Going home.

Is there anything you least look forward to?

Coming to work. Not going to lie; I wish I didn’t have to work, but I have to take care of the family. I have to take care of the kids. I wish I didn’t have to work, but unfortunately, I can’t avoid working because I have bills to pay and family to look after. I’m a responsible person, and I’m independent.

Would you say the workload is evenly distributed over a shift, or does it come in waves?

The two most active or busiest shifts are the morning and afternoon shifts. Those are the busiest times, and I work all three shifts, so I can attest to that. Overnight, which is a midnight to morning shift, is basically pedestrian—not much going on.

Do you notice anything when the lobby is empty? Do you wait around for anything to happen?

Well, during the 12 to 8 shift, usually there's not much you can do because there's not much traffic coming into the building at that time. There are very few phone calls or anything, and usually, we’ll sit around and wait until we get something to do. But because of the service we provide, we have to be here 24 hours. That’s the service we provide.

What would you say makes up most of the lobby traffic? Is it food, packages, or visitors?

It’s a combination of all of them. Because as you can see now, we got people going out, and we're gonna repeat conversations. Then you gotta see if they want any taxi cabs or have any orders coming in. And then food deliveries go through security, so we don't really do food deliveries at this time.

Would you say it gets busier during Christmas or other times of the year but then less busy, like vacation season?

Um, alright, so the workload is definitely busier in December—from the end of November onwards.

Now, what would you say about traffic in the summer?

Yeah, so in summer and on the holidays, there's less traffic because a lot of people leave. A lot of people leave, you know, so then on the return, it's a lot of work, too. So, there’s work for them to leave because you gotta help with the luggage and put it in cars, and there’s the same thing when we have to take the luggage back from the cars. Holiday times are very, very busy. The time before the holiday is busy, and the time after the holiday is busy. So, during the holiday, the cars for the day are two days long, maybe because they are slow and quiet.

And does the increase in workload during Christmas, for example, feel too overwhelming?

Over time, I got accustomed to it. So, it’s become part of my daily routine. So, it's not really overwhelming. For someone who's new to it, it could be, but for us, we're very used to it now. So, it's like another day for us.

What do you feel is the most crucial aspect of the job?

Most crucial aspect of the job? You gotta pay a lot of attention. You need a lot of focus, and you can’t make any mistakes. So, it's all about—the most important aspect of the job—is being focused.

If there are visitors coming in and out, then tenants coming in and out, and then a package comes in, how do you prioritize which one to get to first?

First come, first served. Well, the packages I would put last, meaning if packages came in, I would definitely deal with the people first. Sometimes, I’m with someone at the desk, and a phone call comes in. I ask the person to give me a minute and answer the phone. The call ends if I can’t get there, so that’s more immediate.

Sometimes, you have a nanny or babysitter who comes in once or twice a week, so you kind of know them, but then if you have a family member who you're not too familiar with, how do you make the calculation between announcing guests and just sending them up?

Well, in terms of someone who's on a regular basis, you send them up and not announce because they're usually in the system, the building system, and for guests or friends or visitors, we usually announce those people. Unless, over time, we know them, then we know it's OK with the homeowner or tenant who lives in the apartment. Then we'll send them up without announcing them. That's usually unlikely. It's very quick. It's normal for us to announce anyone who comes in.

And would you describe this job as one that causes a lot of stress?

A lot of stress? Yeah, I would love to get more pay. I’m stressed out because I need more pay to pay my bills. That’s the only stress I’m having with this job. I need more money. Everything is increasing, but our salaries are not increasing. That's the only stress I have, paying my bills. So, I need more money. I hope this interview goes to the people that need to hear that, loud and clear.

On average, how many times do you interact with non-residential individuals in the lobby?

On an average day? It varies; honestly, it varies. It's not a number. I couldn’t actually say. It's 7 to 10 or 10 to 12 or 2 to 3. It depends on the day, you understand?

And building off an earlier response, would you say you mostly interact in the morning and afternoon?

Yeah, that’s the busiest time period. You know, everything is going on at that time of day.

Is one usually busier than the other, or are they even?

The mornings usually have a lot of contractors and people coming in, so it’s busy. You know, housekeepers, nannies, workers coming into the building in the morning. So that's usually busy in the morning. In the afternoons, you get a lot of food deliveries and packages. Packages come in the mornings, too. Then the contractors leave, so they return their keys and all that. So, I would say they're both busy, but it could be possible that the morning is busier. But they’re both busy, for sure.

And how often do you interact with coworkers?

Co-workers? Oh, I hate them all. I wish I could not interact with them. (chuckles) But honestly speaking, yeah, it's unavoidable. Because, you know, this is teamwork. So, we have to work together as a team, irrespective of our personalities, to get the job done. So, interacting with coworkers is inevitable. And unavoidable. We can't get around it.

Do you see coworkers mostly between switching shifts or during a shift?

Usually, the coworkers you see are when you're actually coming on your shift because everyone is leaving at the same time, so the changing room and the locker room are usually busy at that time. You’ll see a lot of coworkers there.

If you had to put a number on it, how many times would you say tenants walk in and out of the building on the average day?

As I said, I couldn't give that an accurate figure because I don’t work the morning shift anymore. But what I could say is that usually in the afternoon, there are between 5 and 50 tenants that leave during that period of time. It could be way more, too, because more people come in than leave. Because people that leave for work in the morning, usually come in in the afternoon. So, back and forth? I would say I see on a daily basis at least 100 tenants, back and forth. At least.

And how long do you converse with residents on average?

Um, maybe two minutes at most? Sometimes, they’re headed to work and worried about traffic. Sometimes, they aren’t in the mood. Some people are not big on being conversational or whatever. They’re busy, and they’ve got stuff to do.

And would you say you converse longer as they exit or enter the building?

Entering the building. Usually, it’s a long conversation.

How did COVID impact the occupation with more packages but not as much traffic?

Yeah, COVID was crazy. Yeah. We did way more work but for the same money. We risked our lives during COVID. Because we were frontline members, so we had to be at work. We had no choice. We came to work to do our jobs here as essential workers. And we left our families at home. When everyone else was at home, you know, we had to be here because we're essential workers. And I'm very—I feel as if we didn't get the best treatment for the job that we did during COVID. I think we’re not appreciated for what we did during COVID, you know. Especially in this building, I can attest to that, and I can speak to that. Yeah, I'm still disgruntled about that. You can type everything I'm saying. Don't hold back, don't filter. I'm very disgruntled.

So, you’d say you got more distant from tenants during that era?

Yes. They were all afraid. All the tenants were afraid. We had to do everything for them. We had to take their packages upstairs and their food deliveries as usual. Nobody wanted to come on down; nobody wanted to even touch their own mailboxes. We had to get their mail, everything. And then we were at risk of catching COVID because we were actually doing all that physical interface.

And final question: Would you say from tenant relations from before the pandemic to now, they're back to back to before, or are you still distant?

I would say it's about 90% back. People are comfortable again, having social conversations. So, I would say it's about 90% back to normal prior to COVID. So, people are still not hesitant. But some people are still hesitant and still need everything sent up to them. There’s still that fear of catching it for some, you know.

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