COVID-19’s Unsung Heroes

Our society values letters.  The ABC kind- Ph.D., M.D.  J.D.  MFA, BA, RN, MSW.  These are called post-nominal initials, onesthat follow a name and indicate the individual holds an academic degree,accreditation, office, or military decoration. 

I, too, confess to having acredential bias.  People with initialsbedecking their names tend to enjoy community respect, dignity, and quite oftenmoney. 

We see those initials at workduring this Corona crisis as RNs and MDs are on the front lines fighting tokeep people alive.  Ph.Ds are spendinghours in their labs developing tests and antidotes to this plague.  We are utterly grateful to theseprofessionals risking their lives and even the lives of family members fightingon our behalf.

But consider all those people for whom the alphabet merely spells out their names. John, Beth, Sammy, Rayshawn.  They don’t have extra letters, periods, or commas embellishing their names.  I’ve been thinking of these initial-less people with much fondness of late.  These people are also on the front lines.  They are the grocery store clerks, the trash collectors, the landscapers, and delivery personnel. 

Sometimes these are the only people I see during a given day spent sequestered in my home.  I have the luxury of working from home.  My income does not have to cease because I’m afraid to leave the confines of my casa.

I, like many others, have startedwaving to our garbage collectors, acknowledging their work to make my lifeeasier.  I feel like saying “Namaste” asI bow thanking check-out clerks for their service. 

I guess that is one of my big eyeopeners during this shelter in place time. How invisible many of these essential workers have been to us all theseyears.  I hope this sentiment is a by-productof this incarceration.  I’m hopinghenceforth we, as a society, will continue to honor these now visible heroes.