Essential workers are accepted as part of the landscape. They blend in. I was reminded the other day of how silently and efficiently they keep our lives functioning. During 2019 lockdown from Covid we knew and appreciated the folks who by strength and perseverance, during a scary time in a lethal environment, risked their lives so the rest of us could carry on more or less normally. Our very lives depend upon the legions of people who reported to work to keep life on track and functioning.
The chest pains came while I fixed lunch the other day, so my husband wasted no time getting me to an Immediate Care facility. Doors swung wide and in minutes sticky rubber pads and wires scrolled my heart beats in fine, spidery lines. The pain subsided but further tests at a cardiac-specific hospital was the next stop. The EMTs delivered me to what became a 24-hour master class on the innerworkings of a finely-tuned watch---a medical system we accept as our due. From cleaning ladies to volunteers to technicians, to nurses and doctors, I encountered a stream of people at South Buffalo Mercy Hospital, each more professional than the next. All of them delivering their goods and services seamlessly with grace and charm. Wait! There’s another group of hidden workers who handle the administrative stuff.
Perhaps being deprived of normalcy made returning to life all the sweeter. Getting a clean bill of health was excellent but again putting on real clothes, walking freely, breathing fresh air were major gifts as well. It took only one day to wake me up and jar me into a new appreciation of normalcy. On the drive home businesses were shuttered, but scores of people from mechanics to stock people to street sweepers work to bring excellence to our fingertips. Let’s take note and give thanks once again to those behind-the-scenes gallants who ensure that our lives are not just predictably good but downright overrun with riches.