My brother, a custodial worker at a
hospital, falls into the “essential worker” category. He earns less than a
livable wage. He reports to work during natural disasters almost annually as he
lives in the Houston area. He will continue to work through the COVID-19
epidemic until he gets sick. I worry that he may die if that happens.
My nephew works at one of Texas’s
largest grocery chains, HEB. His salary, also, doesn’t come anywhere what it
should for him to report for work during an epidemic of this scope. Of course,
he’s there extra hours so the rest of us can have the supplies we need to stay
home. That means he’s exposed through every person who walks into the store.
Every one of us has friends or
family members who continue to work because of their essential occupations. For
me, it’s important to give these people as much of an edge as possible. If they
must be exposed to carriers of COVID-19, let it be in as controlled and limited
way as possible.
If you follow directives and stay
home, you limit your contracts to only a few people on a daily basis. If you
are the designated shopper, restricting the people you see means that you help
limit the number of contacts my family members come into contact with, too.
If you have a governor that’s not
issuing sensible and safe guidelines that don’t have an economic drive (like
suggesting our elderly should be willing to die to keep the economy going for
this next generation), look to the states harder hit by COVID-19 and follow
those guidelines.
If you have a mercenary minister who
continues to push you into church services, find another church. For years many
of my religious friends have claimed that their beliefs aren’t attached to a
building—that they can pray and worship at any place and time. Now’s the time
to prove it!
Stay safe for your family and stay
safe for mine.
Copyright 2020 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman
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