Culture

Everyday heroes

|Kevyn Fowler|

As I stopped to get gas on my way to work last week, I couldn’t help but notice the big semi parked and delivering supplies to the store.
I stopped the driver as he was getting in the cab to continue on to the next store, and I asked him how he was doing. He said he was tired but glad to be working. I thanked him for that, and he looked at me kind of funny for a second, and then smiled and said, you’re welcome.


I’ve always thought the everyday heroes in our lives don’t get the recognition they deserve. In this time of anxiety, uncertainty, shortages, layoffs; when things seem spiraling out of control some days, those who can work and continue to do their jobs at great risk to themselves, deserve to be recognized.

Everyday Heroes. Photo: Kevyn Fowler


Those in the medical and health care field, nurses, physician’s assistants, doctors, everyone at any medical facility, risking their lives every minute to heal us and save lives. We come to them laden with a contagious and dangerous disease, and they take us in and do all they can to keep us and our loved ones alive and returned to good health.
The store clerks and managers and all the people stocking shelves, manning the registers, keeping a brave smile and friendly hello for us as we buy the things we need to stay fed and healthy.

The people in the transportation industry, drivers and delivery people, the pilots and engineers, getting us to work or to the hospital. Truckers hauling rigs full of food and supplies all over the country, bringing all the things we need to run our entire country.

Office workers managing the schedules and supplies and payroll and legal aspects that keep everything on track and accounted for.
Those in the educational system, the teachers working hard to stay connected with their students, administrators making the tough decisions for our children’s safety and well-being. The support staff that cooks and cleans and those that manage the schools.

The cleaning and waste management industry, making our common spaces safer, wiping down and disinfecting all the surfaces we encounter every day, keeping us safe from the invisible enemy that could be lurking on that door handle.

The emergency response people, fire and police and ambulance workers and EMT’s, who put their lives at risk without a second thought for themselves, they rush to the front lines of any emergency, to save and protect us when we are in dire need.

The construction and repair industry, technicians and line workers and builders and mechanics and anyone who builds and fixes and keeps the engines of our society running like clockwork.

The manufacturers and distributors, both of hard goods and food, who run the factories and machinery assembling all the products and foodstuff we use every day.

The farmers, both big and small, who grow the food and raise the livestock to keep the stores stocked and all of us well fed and healthy.
Those in the military, here and abroad, standing guard and ready to protect us, but also prepared at any minute help in humanitarian projects.

The journalists of every media, working hard in your community to bring you the latest news and facts to help you and your loved ones stay safe and informed. Not only the information you need but also the stories of the good things people are doing to help each other get through all this.

The volunteers who are showing up all over the place now, bring food to the needy, checking on that elderly neighbor, ready to lend a hand at any time for simply the chance to make another person’s day a little brighter. There’s been a surge of goodwill and volunteerism, proof positive that we get through these times together, caring for and helping each other, making our neighborhoods and communities and country places of love and compassion.

I’m sure I forgot many other important parts of our society where people contribute to the greater good, but the important thing is we take the time to thank all the people who do these things that help get us through this situation, and make the world a better place for all of us.