A False Premise

Seriously, did we learn nothing from the experience of lock down? We’re human beings so of course the answer is no! When the world changed it was the shop workers, the delivery drivers and riders, the nurses, support staff and carers who kept things running. The professions we ignore 99% of the time kept us going by braving a virus killing so many people to help us maintain a semblance of a normal life.

We should admire anyone who does a job to the best of their abilities. Just because a Doctor or a Lawyer or a Teacher has a degree, it doesn’t mean that we have to admire their work more than anyone else’s. In my earlier years I was an insurance clerk, an RAF recruit, a teaboy, a civil servant and a Town Hall worker charged with moving furniture and making sure the venue was secure. I never looked at any of those jobs and thought I was too good for them. All of them taught me the value of work in all it’s forms and I met people who were worth dozens of the worst managers I have worked under. When I was unable to get a teaching job I worked in a shop for 6 months to bring money in and I became part of a tightly knit team of people from a whole range of backgrounds. People who left full time education at 16 had so much to teach me about their work and I was happy to learn.

So, when this prompt comes up, you should use it to really examine what is important and, more than that, who is important. Never look down on any person doing a job – well apart from politicians of course who deserve our derision because they are in it for themselves!