For the longest time, “thank you for your service” was our heartfelt statement of gratitude, when encountering a veteran. While this statement still applies, we find that this now should and will apply to new groups: frontline workers, food workers, food delivery drivers and others that are helping us to protect our lives through their service.

The People That Take Care of Us

These days, I see three ways in which service workers take care of us:

Law enforcement: identifying and apprehending lawbreakers, while enforcing in Michigan the $1,000 fine for violating social distancing parameters through large gatherings and/or engaging in “nonessential business.”
Frontline medical workers: from EMT/paramedics picking up people that may be suffering coronavirus/COVID-19 complications to the nurses, doctors and others in the hospital taking care of them. Also, there are the researchers working on developing an antibody test and a viable working vaccine.
Food workers/food delivery workers: there are employees at restaurants open for carryout, curbside and delivery. Let us not forget the people that deliver food from grocery stores/markets or through food delivery services.

More Reasons To Give Thanks

While some of us, prior to the pandemic, were already using food delivery services (Grubhub, DoorDash. etc.) or to get groceries (Instacart, Shipt, etc.), others began using them. It can be unsettling to think about for now we relying on these services rather than being able to make a quick food run.

Let’s look at a scenario. We do know that some with coronavirus/COVID-19 can be asymptomatic (not showing symptoms). Remembering this: when getting good delivered, you have no way of knowing (by looking at them), if your delivery person is infected and, conversely, they don’t know if you are. Assuming that social distancing is observed and the delivery person drops your food off and walks away, then the risk of transmission may be close to nil. However, what if social distancing isn’t observed? This happened to me, when I went out for a curbside food pickup and the restaurant employee (with gloves on) came right up to my window. I’m not super worried, as I’m working from home anyway and don’t really go anywhere, so should I show any symptoms, then I will self-quarantine and hope for the best. Imagine a food worker’s multiple, daily experiences and repeatedly running through the same mental analysis that I ran through just once. THIS IS WHAT THEY GO THROUGH.

Their Sacrifice

Much more than food workers, the people that I think about most are our frontline medical personnel. One of my K-8 classmates is sick right now but recovering. I have a few relatives that are, also, recovering. Between my wife and I, we know an even greater number of people in the medical field that haven’t yet been infected, which we hope that it remains this way.

I consider it no exaggeration to refer to these people not as medical personnel but as medical warriors fighting to treat and save those sickened by coronavirus/COVID-19. I can’t imagine the tremendous courage that it takes to go in everyday to work those long hours perhaps with insufficient protective equipment and rising above the considerable risk to their own safety to protect ours. May those people continue to keep their continued health!

Continuing To Do Our Part

Speaking for myself, I have never experienced anything like this and I suspect that neither have many of you. In terms of how private citizens, corporate America and various levels of government have pitched in, I can only compare this somewhat to our wartime WWII efforts. I say somewhat because it’s not a matter of conserving resources through growing victory gardens, paper drives or rationing. What I have seen is the reduction of waste and sharing resources. Just today, one of our neighbors had extra from a food delivery box and they sent a social media message wanted it. The generosity that I have seen is impressive and something that I hope continues, after things stabilize (notice that I didn’t say back to “normal”).

Amid what is going on, I have heard some people complain about the current prohibition in Michigan of going to their vacation home or about some of the restrictions in going out. Returning to the WWII comparison, we’re not being mandated to ration. Nobody has been drafted. I can understand, if someone has been impacted because they have a “non-essential job.” This being said, the main things that we’re being asked to do is to stay home and, when venturing out, to observe social distancing. When this doesn’t occur, then there is further risk of transmission, especially from asymptomatic people (don’t look sick but carry the virus). If we stay home, we can avoid further infection and illness, as well as shortening the stay-at-home order and speeding up our return. Also, if we are sick, then we can ride out the illness. Either way, we can help reduce further casualties. All that we have to do is to stay home.

My heart goes out to those that have been significantly impacted. I directly know a few small business owners that aren’t working, making little money, yet they understand why we’re staying home and agree. As a matter of fact, one of them has someone working in the medical field. Each of us gives something up: some of us by choice, while others are offering up their inconvenience in service to others. All that we have to do is to stay home. So let us “sacrifice” a little, so that service workers and/or their family don’t have to make the ultimate sacrifice. All that we have to do is to stay home.

So, now, when you next say, “Thank you for your service,” I hope that you can keep this additional meaning in mind. As I think about this statement, I think about those people from past to current generations that have put themselves at risk to keep us safe. To all of them, now including our coronavirus/COVID-19 warriors, I say,

“THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.”

Be sure to follow me at The Jose Rodriguez (Facebook), The Jose Rodriguez (Twitter) or The Jose Rodriguez (Instagram).

Also, if you know someone that would enjoy or benefit from reading this post or others, please share with them.