I will start with a question:
Is Blinking the plural of Winking?
I receive much feedback pointing out grammatical
and punctuation errors and bluntly, in just about every case the feedback is
valid. Therefore, I assume this will be an easily answered question.
Moving on.
The Covid-19 related restrictions of
recent months have identified who are the essential workers in our communities.
The butchers, bakes, cleaners, sanitary
staff, nurses, Doctors, teachers, child care, delivery and warehouse teams,
front and back facing supermarket employees and others have not only proven to
be essential but have been officially declared so.
With the odd exception, these are hardly
the best paid, most secure or most respected roles in our community.
As we start the slow journey out of
isolation, it is essential we act to remember their essentiality and entrench
an appropriate reward structure.
It is time they are wrapped together as
a group and a minimum pay and reward structure is put in place. After all,
being deemed ‘essential’, also meant they were most at risk of infection.
We need to ensure the essential roles
are remunerated accordingly and are entrenched as secure, respected professions
that are valued and aspired too.
And we need to act quickly as it is all
to easy to forget and neglect.
Remember, few of us were looking for a
lawyer, an investment banker and dare I say, a financial planner during
isolation. We did however want our pasta and toilet paper packed on to a truck
at the warehouse, delivered to the supermarket, stacked on shelves and checked
out at the counter.
And while we are talking about memory
retention…
What else will we remember to do as
restrictions progressively lift?
Cooking at home has increased. As well
as being economically beneficial, home prepared meals will most likely be a
healthier way of eating too. Will we remember this or fall back to a take away,
convenience orientated packaged food habit?
There has been an increase in families
walking, cycling and even running together.
Everything about this has personal and
collective benefits. I hope we remember to maintain the habits of recent weeks.
My last of many similar examples is:
From all reports, the behaviour and
courtesy displayed when meeting by Zoom and equivalent media is far better,
more respectful, less domineering, less aggressive and more inclusive than many
face to face meetings. Profit and people would benefit by remembering and
maintaining such an approach and attitude. Then again, maybe it is simply
practicing common respect and decency in our dealings.
In line with today’s theme, I provide
this quote from Dutch Commentator José Been
That old
cliché is really true. It’s not about travelling to faraway places or having
the busiest of jobs to boast your status. It is the small things I already had
so close to home that matter most. That is what I came to realise in these past
months.
In looking for a book to indulge in this
coming week, I reference the following sentence from a writer not known to me:
Every
milestone of civilisation – from the end of slavery to the beginning of
democracy – was once considered a utopian fantasy.
This has
prompted me to read Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman.
And to
conclude with a thought:
Opportunity generally is somewhere at the
intersection of where nobody else is looking and change. (Amy Zelman –
Global Futurist)
Colin Morley
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