There Are No Non-Essential Jobs

During this time of pandemic, we have seen heroes rise up from the ordinary and become extraordinary. Hospital doctors, nurses, even janitors has risen up to become heroes. We also praise our grocery store and general merchandise/discount store (ie Wal Mart) clerks who have worked tirelessly to keep store shelves stocked. Sadly, I have also heard tales of these clerks taking unbelievable abuse from customers. They have all done this while literally putting their own lives at risk. These people are front-line soldiers in a war and deserve to be remembered as such. We have called them "essential" workers, and this gets to what bothers me. The ones we do not label as "essential" are labeled as "non-essential." In other words, they are not important. At least that is the message being communicated.

All jobs are essential. We need them all. Over the past four weeks, approximately 22 million people  have filed for first time unemployment benefits in this country. That is an average of 5.5 million people per week. The previous record was 695,000 in 1982. Economists generally believe that any number over 400,000 signals a recession. Prior to the country shutting down over this pandemic, there were 282,000 first time claims.

Who are these 22 million people? I believe Brennan Manning's book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, offers the best definition. They are the "bedraggled, beat-up and burnt-out." In short, they are ragamuffins, one who is commonly dressed in dirty clothes, typically a child. These days, they are beat up and burnt out. They are the food server working for tips. The aspiring entrepreneur. The single mother who now wonders how she will pay for the rent, the heat, the lights and still feed her children.

I get why we are shut down. We want to slow (not stop) the spread of the virus so as not to overwhelm the health care system. This is a highly contagious virus that for the person who has a compromised immune system is a death sentence. For most of us, we will fight it off and go on. The vast majority of us will never contract the virus. Others of  us will contract it, but be asymptomatic. My heart goes out to those who contract it. Many are scared. Scared of an uncertain future, perhaps an uncertain death. Personally, I do not fear death, but dying scares me to no end. I cannot imagine what those who receive this diagnosis are going through.

My heart also goes out to those who face an uncertain economic future. Even if/when they go back to work, will their employer still be in business? Will their business return to break even or profitable levels? What will they do? The government cannot keep writing trillion dollar plus checks to cover this. That is not a solution. No political party is going to rescue any of us. My personal opinion is that we are headed for a "double-dip" recession and when the recovery comes it will be very slow, and very weak at best.

As for me, I am going to re-read The Ragamuffin Gospel, as I believe it has a message that resonates for this time. Ultimately, it says that we are all ragamuffins. We are all certainly going to start feeling like it, if we don't already. Many of us are already feeling beat-up, burnt-out, stressed and at the end of our rope. We need hope and we need each other. All of us, and our jobs, are essential.