One of the unexpected features of the Coronavirus pandemic is that we have suddenly developed a previously, almost invisible recognition of some of the working class. Workers in senior care facilities who have continued to work in the midst of a dangerous health crisis are being thanked for their contributions. Care workers, maids, cleaners, suppliers and staff are all now considered front-line workers. They are being given a recognition that was taken for granted before the pandemic and rightly so.
Our society does take a lot of lower-level professions for granted. Grocery clerks, mailmen, delivery personnel and garbage men have always carried out their work with no fuss and little appreciation by the general public. They seem to conscientiously carry out their jobs and are seldom the recipients of any recognition. Because of the pandemic, they are now finally being valued and in some small ways rewarded. It is about time!
Our society seems to be enamoured with the famous and the elite. We pay massive salaries and gush out adulation at star athletes and entertainers. Baseball player Mike Trout makes some 30 million dollars a year and movie actor Johnny Depp makes $35 million per movie. Every celebrity is supported by a cast of thousands ( using my literary license) who do all of the menial and necessary tasks to assist the stars. Whether it is a player's equipment manager or a starlet's dressing room cleaner, they all need to know that their work is valued and appreciated.
In our own lives, there are numerous individuals who we often overlook and take for granted. How often do we think about and acknowledge the work done by school secretaries, grocery store shelf stockers, nighttime cleaning staff, or even our own mailman or garage mechanic? We all feel elevated when we are thanked for some simple tasks that we do. We all need to know that we are contributing in some way to the common good. Let's make a point of being a little more conscious of the "little" man or woman and let them know they are valued. Everyone will feel better, including yourself!
When the Dr’s I worked with would get on their” high horse” and think they were more superior than the others we worked with, I would explain to them that life was like a wagon wheel and every spoke was just as important as the other spoke to carry out the job properly. It can be the “ bottom spoke” to make the higher spoke look good! I used to also tell them dogs didn’t care about the size of the tire they stilled pissed on it. Used to make them realize each person plays an important role and cooled their jets a bit.
ReplyDeleteAlso a big thanks to our farmers for growing our food and the transportation industry for delivering it