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Thank you to our heroes!!

My Nikkel’s Worth column

One of the results of everyone dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic is there are now a new set of heroes in our midst, and it is to these people that we all owe a debt of gratitude.

Those who were already heroes are still being heroic, such as our police, fire fighters and EMTs, who run towards danger and try to help people out if they possibly can.

But add to that our doctors and nurses, who are really on the front lines of health care, along with the aides and others who care for our seniors in long-term care.

As the doctors and nurses and EMTs are the ones who deal directly with anyone who has COVID-19, or is suspected of having it, they are putting their lives and health on the line as they take care of people who may have a deadly virus that we don’t have any medicine for.

But here’s the thing: they are not the only ones who are putting themselves in possible harm’s way.

Consider delivery drivers, the people who staff the grocery stores and outlets like Wal-Mart, gas stations, the post office (and who deliver the mail) or fill the orders for take-out of food.

You may not think of these people as particularly heroic, but they are.

They are the ones who are operating what have been deemed as essential services, while other services and businesses have been ordered to shut down for the time being.

They deal with the public under increasingly restricted circumstances, and let’s face it, some members of the public are not taking things patiently or graciously, and they take it out on those who are trying to serve them.

My wife works at Wal-Mart, so she is one of these people, and she has voiced an anxiety I’m sure many of those working like she is has felt.

As customers go through her till, she does not know who is healthy and who is not, or who has just come back from a trip and decided to pop by a store before heading home.

She is rightfully worried that any one of these people could pass on to her the coronavirus.

She has a good immune system, and has been very healthy so far — but this pandemic crisis is far from over. My point is, there are people who are willingly going to work to serve others in various capacities, and they are perhaps in the greatest danger aside from our health care providers.

We need to be grateful and deeply thankful to each and every one of these people as they help us get through.