COVID-19 Diaries. Day Four- Come Together
Watchet, Somerset, UK, 26th March 2020 22:35
The dog took me out for my daily 8km walk tonight around the time when millions of people came out of their windows and doors to give a massive round of applause to those working for the NHS in the frontline against COVID-19. It was an incredibly moving moment in which people power was felt across Britain. My dog Barley looked both miffed and excited by this sudden apparition of people and noise everywhere.
After a couple of minutes of this, everyone went back inside their houses and the usual eerie silent we have become accustomed to descended again.
It is amazing how this crisis has completely shifted society’s perceptions of the roles people play. Everyone is grateful for the NHS and other emergency services and they truly deserve the praise and recognition they will get every evening at 8pm.
But there are others. The people who perform what is normally seen as menial work. We call some of these workers ‘unskilled labour’ or ‘low-waged’. The bin men, the supermarket cashiers, the care workers, the cleaners, the delivery drivers and couriers for the gig economy. Those who stack our shelves and clean after us and look after our elderly and frail, often at night when we can’t see them. They are a bit like the house elves from fairy tales who magically tidy up the mess that we leave behind. These people are risking their lives every day so that we can carry on working from home on our powerful computers connected to our super-duper fiberoptic network. It has clearly become apparent that we cannot function without these people. They have always been there but we don’t usually notice them, until now…
When we come out the other end of this crisis, we need to learn to appreciate and value the part that everyone plays in making this society function. No one is better or worse than another human being. We are not really that different, it’s only our circumstances which shape our path through life. And inasmuch as we can make our own choices, we can also make different choices in how we treat one another.
We are all the same: if you cut us, we bleed; if you hurt us, we get upset and cry; if you are kind and gentle, we feel connected; if you love us, we love back.
Good night all,
OneLove OneHeart
Tonight’s song is by Primal Scream: Come Together (Andrew Weatherall Mix)
World-wide confirmed cases: 526,044
World-wide deaths: 23,709
World-wide recovered: 122,066
UK confirmed cases: 11,792
UK deaths: 578
UK recovered: 135
Source: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6