The global pandemic has forced a lot of us to reevaluate our lives and in some cases, change directions, even temporarily. There are alot of people out of work and some have found alternate forms of income. One of those people is Stacy Falk.

The Salida resident loved her job at Salida Mountain Sports. When Covid-19 hit, “everyone that worked there was obviously pretty upset when we had to close the doors.” Falk needed to make up some lost income, so she applied for a job at a local grocery store and was hired on the spot. “I figured the grocery store would be a good option not only to have a bit of an income but to just help during this situation that we’re in”, says Falk. She quickly got to work; working the register, stocking food, and helping with small projects. “I was just doing anything I could to help them.”

Falk is thankful to be working at the grocery store. She doesn't hesitate when talking about what she likes best about her new job. “The experiences I’ve had with so many different people, mostly customers.” One customer bought her flowers. Another purchased a gift card and then handed it to Falk. She held onto it for a few weeks and then payed it forward to a Walmart employee who was having a bad day. Falk says, “she was just like, no one had ever done that before.” Falk smiles, “having all those experiences has been really, really cool.”

Falk was introduced to us via Facebook, where she posted a video of herself and a friend skating at the store. Roller skating. “When I moved here in September, I got recruited to the roller derby team pretty quickly,” she says, “and then all of this happened and the skate parks got closed.” Her friend and fellow skater also worked at the grocery store. When they both worked a night shift, Falk suggested they skate the store while working. “So one night we just put our skates on and went in and that’s kind of when it started.”

Falk started documenting her grocery store adventures - both skating and non-skating- on Facebook. She’s had a lot of people in town recognize her as “that girl from the grocery store.”

Falk is eager to get back to work at Salida Mountain Sports but has taken many lessons from her time at the grocery store. “Just dealing with so many different backgrounds and people from all different walks of life...being more open-minded and perceptive to a lot of different people.”