THE ESSENTIALS

"COURAGE IS THE THING.  ALL GOES IF COURAGE GOES"

                                        Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937)



How many times a day do we hear the term, essential worker, on the news, perhaps pausing for a few seconds, and then going about our day.  The Essentials could be the title of a super-hero film or a mission impossible Netflix series...or, it could mean material items we feel we cannot do without.  By definition, it means something that is absolutely necessary.  If you do a little bit of research on IMDB.com, the independent movie database, and enter it as a search term, you will actually find at least three productions by that title: one about an aging spy called back into action, one presenting a series of great classic films, another, a documentary on a collection of short stories. But the term, essential, at least during this pandemic, has taken on a more prominent place in our jargon and has become embedded in courage and heroism.  It is to these essential workers that I dedicate today's blog.

They are an extremely large group of workers and professionals that encompass everything from the physician in the ED or ICU, passing a laryngo-tracheal tube down the airway of someone struggling for a breath of air to the delivery person putting a carton of food on our doorstep... from the bus and train drivers coming to work every day to the teacher continuing his or her student's education with distance learning...and many jobs in between.  Many of them put themselves in harm's way for the greater good because it's what they were trained to do.

Each night, there's an army of courageous cleaners who go into the New York Subway System and sanitize every inert surface they can find.  Each day, a flight crew boards an aircraft, to make sure you have a safe and comfortable flight.  The mail continues to be delivered and our first responders are still responding.  They define "essential"and, in no way, should we now or ever take them for granted while we stay in the safety and comfort of our own homes.

Many of them have to go home after their work shift to their families, sometimes with older parents or children, putting everyone at risk.  And many, particularly, our health care providers, work to the point of exhaustion, both physical and emotional.  We were not designed emotionally to deal with the huge numbers of deaths.  Dealing with this is just not another layer of stress and anxiety. It is not business as usual.

Many "essential workers" are at the lower end of the socio-economic scale and are frequently minorities, immigrants, and DACA recipients. The fact that many deaths have occurred disproportionately among people of color just goes to underline not only who does these jobs but the health inequities that have been rampant in our country for years.  They don't often have the luxury of going home where they can adequately socially distance themselves.  To their credit, some public agencies and local governments are raising the issue of "Hazard Pay" but I see this as a band-aid solution. There WILL be other pandemics down the pike and we need to find solutions as much as medications and vaccines.

At State Capitols around the country, we see protests by angry citizens urging the country to open up quickly.  Many have lost their jobs or cannot pay their rents or car payments. But, unfortunately, there is an element in these crowds that is ugly and bothersome.  The images of men, wearing camouflage, and armed with semi-automatic weapons, even goaded on by the President, yes the "Leader of the free world" tweeting out "Liberate", tells me there is another agenda that really won't solve anything...yes, the same leader who claimed it was a hoax and no worse than seasonal flu.  I am certain a number of Americans who believed those words are, unfortunately, no longer with us.  We are seeing a dangerous trend that makes me fearful and sorrowful for the future of America.

I am encouraged by my own Governor in New York State approaching the return to "normal" with an intelligent, data-based plan.  He ends every daily press conference with "We are New York tough, united, smart, disciplined and loving".  It is words like this, albeit just a slogan, that gives me hope.
In conclusion, my mentor in how I approached children in my long Pediatric career, Fred Rogers, said: "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother should say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping'".
So...thank you, essential workers.