For one North Dakota man who’s spent most of his life working in grocery stores, his shelter from the biting outdoor cold is actually a walk-in freezer.
Fargo, North Dakota, is one of the coldest areas of the United States. Recent temperatures with the wind chill hit minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. For one man who’s spent most of his life working in grocery stores, his shelter from the biting outdoor cold is actually a walk-in freezer.
Wearing only gloves and a jacket, 57-year-old Kevin Stoick works at southwest Fargo’s Osgood Hornbacher’s store. As the frozen food manager since 2005, he frequently has to work in the freezer, which is typically set to 10 below zero.
Loving to joke about his job, Stoick said, “The only plus about working in the freezer is there’s no wind chill.” He also said that when people ask him why he moved to Fargo, he replies, “it wasn’t cold enough where I lived.”
Before Fargo, Stoick worked at another grocery store in Selby, South Dakota, where he grew up. Only that store’s freezer was outside. At least now, Stoick can unload delivery trucks backed into the stockroom from indoors.
Stoick is thankful for his freezing workplace when folks working outdoors have to brave harsher conditions, stalled vehicles, and frost bite, among other unpleasantries.
