GREENFIELD — Men and women bustled around the Federal Street Cumberland Farms Thursday afternoon, picking up last-minute ingredients for Thanksgiving feasts.
Many, dressed in Green Wave sweatshirts and baseball caps, were passing through on their way back from the Greenfield versus Turners Falls football game, and made small talk with the cashiers about the final scores after getting coffee, which was free on Thanksgiving day.
“Once people found out, they told their friends, their friends told their friends,” said cashier Andrea Tuttle of the free coffee’s popularity.
Tuttle and fellow cashiers Lauren Bennett and Ashley Williams tended to the long lines’ needs. By 1:30 p.m., Tuttle said butter and whipped cream had sold out, with residents relying on places like Cumberland Farms and CVS in the Thanksgiving Day closure of grocery stores.
“People who would go to the grocery stores find their last-minute meal prep goods here,” agreed Megan Sliva, shift supervisor at CVS, noting the importance of having the pharmacy stay open for those in need of medications.
Even with most businesses closed, remaining workers seemed unperturbed about working the holiday.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Sliva said. “It’s retail. This is the time when people are starting their shopping. It’s the nature of the beast.”
Tuttle, who has worked a Thanksgiving shift for about 20 years, said taking the holiday off would be like taking any other day off: spent lounging around the house and eating.
“It’s like your birthday — it’s just a day,” she said.
Tuttle said in her family, working the holiday is a natural part of life.
“If there was a holiday, my dad would work it, because he made more money that day,” she said. “We were used to it.”
Time and a half, she said, is too good to pass up.
“I work on Thanksgiving because it’s good money with the holidays coming,” Tuttle said. “I like to work. I’m not going to say ‘No.’”
Bennett and Williams agreed, but said their holidays weren’t affected by working as they would eat with their families later in the day. In Sliva’s case, working meant having dinner earlier.
“My family’s nice enough to wait for me,” Bennett said.
Reach Shelby Ashline at: sashline@recorder.com
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