I work as a casual for one of their other business units, and gladly took up the invitation to do some supermarket shifts. I wanted to pick up some extra money, sure, but I also wanted to help the staff there keep on top of their massive workload.

I thought I could do something to help during this extraordinary, terrible time.

What I didn't expect was that customers would repay my efforts by constantly invading my personal space and putting me at greater risk of contracting coronavirus.

I didn't expect customers would constantly come within 1.5 metres of me as I worked, many even reaching directly across within centimetres of my face, to grab an item off the shelf, instead of politely asking me to move.

I didn't expect that when customers came too close, and I tried to back off to a safe distance, they would follow me and continue to get too close. Or that some would even try to pat or grab my arm or my back to get my attention.

That's inappropriate even in normal times, let alone at a time of social distancing while we're trying to 'flatten the curve'. Some of these same customers then act shocked when you react negatively to their breach of your personal space. They don't seem to get that they're putting lives at risk.

Rightly most concern in the weeks and months ahead is for our health workers dealing with this pandemic. But supermarket shelf stockers and checkout staff are there on the frontline too.

The last shift I worked, there were 200 people in the store, staff and shoppers. While most of those shoppers are doing their best to limit contact with other people, breaking their isolation only to hit the supermarket, think for a second about how many people the staff in those shops encounter in a single day.

If you want to continue to buy the groceries you need, then you need us to be able to do our job and do it safely.

Surely it's not too much to ask that you don't touch us, crowd our space or abuse us because you can't get the item you wanted at that time. Sadly, that's happened too much lately.

If customers continue to ignore the social distancing rules, the 4-metre square recommendation, the supermarkets, or the Government, will have no choice but to order further restrictions to lessen the risk.

We might see rules for no more than 10 in the store at a time, as has been done overseas, and moving to primarily online ordering, instead of allowing everyone to shop in store as you currently are.

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On behalf of all supermarket staff working during this crisis, I beg of you, give us our space and let us get on with our jobs, so that together we can get through this nightmare.

Please don't make me regret turning up to work, and especially don't make all the regular staff, who don't have a choice, regret it either.

It's just not fair to put us in a situation where we get sick, or even die, because someone was in too much of a hurry to grab that bag of flour.

Treat all supermarket staff, and for that matter all frontline workers, as if they were your child, or your sibling, or a close relative.

Do us the same courtesy of giving us space. We want you in our stores, we want you being able to feed your families as best you can, but we want to do it safely.

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