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I have been meaning to write an appreciation of the NBC sitcomSuperstorefor a while.
But I kept getting distracted.
It was never the buzziest or most attention-grabbing show.
Someone ordered too many popsicles, and now theres nowhere to store all of these melting popsicles.
A customer just trashed the bathroom.
The work schedule this month is causing problems.
Many of its employees are caught in their daily rhythms.
Four years later, hes still there.
These are all stories about how easy it is to get stuck.
There was the bit about how other Cloud 9 employees unsuccessfully tried to get Mateo registered as a refugee.
My sense of shock is a product ofSuperstores stealthy genius.
I was lulled by the form.
Mateos story is hardly the only waySuperstorehas pulled this trick, either.
The company frequently knocks down the nascent unionizing efforts among its employees.
It cuts hours, giving its employees no recourse to ensure they still make a living wage.
Theyre notattention-seeking bidsfor suddenpolitical relevance.
Theyre just stories about the naked practicalities of being hourly wage retail employees in St. Louis.
Mateos arrest is about immigration policy and the human cost of broad-scale political maneuvering.
Like so much ofSuperstore, its about the way abstract policy plays out in individual lives.
But its also about how dangerous it is to ignore the things right in front of us.
When we do that, we risk ignoring something that more than deserves our love and attention.
Believe me when I tell you:Superstores time is now.
