There’s so much chaos being thrown at us right now in the world as we continue to learn how to live with the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’re learning new information several times a day it seems, new cases pop up with every new update, and we’re all just trying to do our best under the circumstances that we’ve been given.
But it seems like something is missing, something that already feels overdue at this point.
A simple thank you.
Thank you to the business owners who have bent over backwards to accommodate their customers and the general public during this time. Whether it’s offering delivery service, special pick ups, or writing up special guidelines on modified shopping etiquette for those that still need to stop in to pick up groceries. This won’t be forgotten.
Thank you to the teachers and educators who are trying to ensure a smooth-as-can-be transition into students being forced to stay home from school since classes have been suspended. Online courses popping up and interactive learning hubs are likely to become the norm for the next few months, ensuring that a child’s learning doesn’t have to stop just because there’s no bell to ring.
Thank you to EVERYONE who works in health care, whose duty has perhaps never been as important as it is right now as we try to defeat this crafty COVID opponent. The doctors, the nurses, the lab workers, the administrators, the care staff, all of you – I hope you know that your efforts and dedication are not going unnoticed. The public may not always be understanding given the circumstances, but I like to think there’s one undeniable trait we all share towards those in the health field – respect.
Thank you to anyone who works for a living in a job that would be considered essential. Your service ensures that our daily way of life isn’t disrupted more than it has to be right now.
Thank you to the farmers, ranchers and producers who raise and grow the food we all eat. If you’re raiding the shelves at the grocery store and sitting down to a hot meal tonight, odds are a farmer had a hand in supplying it.
Thank you to the truckers who transport our goods to all those grocery stores and supermarkets so that we as consumers have access to them. It’s a thankless job, so here’s one ‘thank you’ from someone who appreciates the hours and the endless miles.
Thank you to everyone out there who is keeping a level head and doing their part in this.
As well, I knew that my special feature article on how local people are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic would be long, but it turned to be the longest singular story I've ever written in my 13 years with The Outlook newspaper (my ‘anniversary’ as it were is on Friday). It's definitely seems to be a piece in which you sit down, settle in, get comfy, and read up on how your friends and neighbors are feeling in the midst of this unprecedented situation.
It feels like that feature is going to define me as a journalist as far as capturing THIS moment at THIS time in our human history. As will the ensuing few months or however long we find ourselves in this situation. That's a responsibility that I don't take lightly.
To those who were willing to answer my questions for the article, thank you for sharing your views, your opinions, your concerns and your fears as we all adjust to what our lives have become for the time being.
To close, I’ll leave you with a viral poem that’s been making the rounds by a Wisconsin-based writer named Kitty O’Meara. She penned the following in the wake of COVID-19 strengthening its grip on our everyday lives, and it speaks to the need to follow the guidelines surrounding social distancing and self-isolation.
“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.
And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.
And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.”
Let’s stay home and heal together, people.
For this week, that’s been the Ruttle Report.
