Tweet Of The Day- Sacrificing

Many Republican governors have taken SARS-CoV-2 lightly and tried to keep businesses "open," public health be damned. In Democratic states, supplemented by the two reasonable cable news networks, individuals were vigorously encouraged to maintain a six-foot distance from persons not of their household, to be outdoors when possible, and (above all) to wear masks. Notwithstanding some concern over a few extreme instances, there was little emphasis on not socializing- rather, the message was "socialize, but take precautions." 

In some states 70% were deemed “essential workers” and given no protection. Far in excess of the rest of the world. They weren’t socializing. They were serving everybody else.

— Andy Slavitt 🇺🇸💉 (@ASlavitt) June 14, 2021

 

At 1:18 of the embedded video,  Slavitt can be seen noting

There are a couple of different things. One is that the people who for so long lived so close to the edge that don't have a great safety net, that don't have great health insurance, but they're forced to work day in, day out to serve us. They're growing crops, they're delivering food to our warehousese. They're working in grocery stores, they're delivering food to our door. All of these people are at risk all of the time....

They were working in home improvement stores, Walgreen's, CVS, Rite-Aid and other chain drugstores, and even in small pharmacies and the other "mom 'n pop" stores which stayed open.  They worked in banks, in doctor's offices, in meat packing plants, and elsewhere.  Some were handymen who had to keep working. They kept the country from falling apart, and a sizeable minority even now are making less than the $15 per hour (mostly) GOP legislators want to deny them.

And in public conveyances, lest we forget the people such as

 Jason Hargrove (who) was behind the wheel of a bus in Detroit when he said a passenger began to cough. The middle-aged woman let loose four or five times without covering her mouth, he said, and watching her do this — at the same time Michigan was under a state of emergency for the coronavirus — got him so upset, he felt compelled to vent his frustrations in a video afterward.

 "I'm mad right about now because that s*** was uncalled for. I'm trying to be the professional that they want me to be, and I kept my mouth closed," he said, voice breaking with emotion. "I kept my mouth closed, but it's at some point in time we've got to draw the line and say enough is enough."

 Now, nearly two weeks after he recorded the video, which viewers shared widely on Facebook Live, Hargrove himself has died of COVID-19. The Amalgamated Transit Union confirmed his death in a tweet posted Thursday.

There are tens of thousands of people such as Jason Hargrove who should still be alive. Some among us, however, would not make the small sacrifices necessary.

 

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