Sometimes I think, and sometimes I don’t. Today I was thinking that we’d have been lost during Covid without postmen and bin men. They are two overlooked jobs, but without post and regular rubbish collections civilisation would soon break down.
The NHS put my dad on a ventilator and kept him sedated as he slipped away. To be fair, there wasn’t much else they could do, but for this, and many other acts like it, they have had praise heaped upon them. The bus drivers and bin men, the posties and shop workers all did a lot more for me than the NHS, and for lower wages, but nobody seems to say much about them. Bus drivers and postmen died during the pandemic as a result of contact with infected people, and representatives of the other services probably did, but their deaths weren’t reported on TV.
After the first lockdown, Julia went in to work for the other lockdowns and even had an official government badge to show she was an essential worker. Despite this, and working face to face with people who had Covid (and thought that it was acceptable to come to the centre despite the positive test) she has yet to be given the thanks of a grateful nation.
She hasn’t even had the thanks of MENCAP. They gave the workers in the residential homes a cash bonus. The staff at daycentres were given nothing and told their job was not as difficult as in the homes.
I’m not saying that the NHS didn’t do a good job, all I’m saying is that the praise and rewards don’t seem to have been distributed equally amongst everyone who helped us through the pandemic.
You can add police, fire services and teachers to the list too, and probably a few others. It’s sometimes difficult remembering how many people we rely on the live our lives.
I did have some other thoughts, but it felt like a day for writing something serious, so I did.
Daffodils
Excellent observations, Quercus. As Tootlepedal, says the media decides what most people believe or don’t believe and with a fickle public…. Well we have what we have 🤷🏻
🙂 I worry that my views are actually influenced by the media rather than the facts. Then I realise I get my “facts” from the media . . .
😂😂
A sound post, Quercus
Thank you Derrick – with luck I will stop thinking soon. 🙂
Who gets thanked and who gets overlooked is still very much the decision of newspaper editors as TV follows the lead of the popular press and social media trails in the wake of both. Personally I feel that anyone who has lived uncomplainingly without going out much and being stuck in the company of a grumpy ex teacher for two years is a real heroine. But I agree with you that the realisation that we are indeed all in this together has not really percolated through to a lot of people.
It’s a bit like the tip of an iceberg – the last two years have just been the visible bit of the testing of marital patience. 🙂
Yes, sigh. COVID illustrated who the essential workers are, but it seems to be a lesson ignored.
Yes. we soon forget. I first meant to write that post a year ago.
You are correct on all counts, the average essential citizen does not get much coverage, respect, or assistance.
And when you start listing them, it’s amazing how many people I need to help me live my dull and uneventful life. If it suddenly became exciting I would need even more help.