In conditions of unbridled (neo) liberalism there are often those who forget that societies are essentially a pyramid. Whether this is true or not is another matter and certainly not at the moment.
The point in our case is that the base of this pyramid is the one that keeps the whole building upright. If suddenly the base recedes then its top will collapse into a flood. No matter how high it is.
Sound simplistic? It can be. Apart from being simplistic, however, it is also completely true. And if in recent years some people pretended not to see it, now with the crisis of its pandemic coronavirus reality came to remind them.
All of us lately have expressed, as everyone could, our immense gratitude to the doctors, nurses and all those who give their own hard fight through the cradle of health. Well done and thank you and say these people are few. Many times the tears that flood your eyes, when you see doctors bending in front of the horrible task of choosing who will live and who will die, say it all.
They do not have a schedule. They enter the hospital in the morning and if they are lucky they can leave the next morning. Shocking are the photos we have all seen lying on the floor to rest for a while or sleeping on the first chair they found empty in front of them. It is the rest of the warrior. These people are fighting an unequal battle, often without weapons. With their hands bare to death. Why they were left unarmed is definitely a discussion that should be done when this whole adventure is over. That is, when the time comes to say thank you in practice and not just clapping on our balconies.
They are not the only ones. Look around you and see. How many people these days do not have the ability to stay at home, locked in the security of not having contact with anyone who could transmit the coronavirus to them. Many times history does not ask you if you want to become a hero or not. It forces you. He puts a gun in your hand and tells you "war". And you have no other choice. You are fighting. Not just for you but for those around you.
These people, then, are the everyday heroes. The invisible heroes of this battle. It is the baker and his servants, who shall rise from their beds and go into their place to knead the bread. He is the deliverer who will take his motorbike and in the empty streets he will do as fast as he can to bring to our house what we ordered from him. They are the people who work in the shops at a devastating pace to prepare everything that will be brought to our home by deliverades. The same goes for those who work in courier services but also the postmen who start their many and great itineraries in cities and villages from the sorting centers.
They are the taxi drivers who, every day in peacetime, hear from the train all of us (and often not unjustly). But they now open their car doors to transport other people to work or even to hospitals. Think for a moment about how dangerous this is. No matter how many protection measures you take, you know that you are playing with your health, every time a customer raises his hand to stop you.
They are their guides Public Transport who did not stop all this time to transfer all the rest of us to our jobs. People who have no right to be afraid and must continue to come in contact with thousands of others every day. Employees in ports and airports must of course fall into the same category. They are also the ones who work in security services in all these places where so many people gather every day.
It is the cleaners and cleaners who clean and take care of disinfecting our offices so that we can go and do our job without fear. And here let me say on behalf of all my colleagues, here at newsbeast.gr, a big, very big, thank you to Ms. Adrianna that until we implemented the measure of telework (before, in fact, something like this was imposed by the government) took care of our offices. Always with a smile.
They are the people of the cleanliness of the Municipalities. That is, those who do not let our cities and neighborhoods become a vast rubbish dump. Those who are called to pick up discarded gloves and discarded masks because some people have such anti-social behavior that they would deserve the biggest and heaviest fine. Although it is a given that no fine makes you human.
All those who work in the factories to keep the supply chain alive. From large warehouses and itineraries to their final destination in stores across the country.
And of course they are the employees in supermarket. Either they are employees or they work in their catering. Especially in these first days of the crisis, they went through moments of disproportionate pressure and intensity, having to manage the large flows of customers (that is, us) who wanted everything, and even immediately.
The kiosks that closed in their few squares must serve us because bad lies that the quarantine will come out without having cigarettes with you. They do not play with these things.
But they are not the only ones. They are also the employees in gas stations who stay there to have sufficient fuel. Those who work in grocery stores and popular markets to have fresh products from mother earth on the market and finally on our table. It is the employees in the pet shops who remain on duty to have our favorite pets (who do not understand what exactly is happening and suddenly no one is missing from the house) food and more.
Quarantine is not an easy thing. Staying home is not a simple situation. Maybe today's facilities just make it more bearable. These facilities, however, do not come by themselves. Some people work for them too. The people who work in telecommunications so that we can have internet and telephones, so that we can talk to loved ones. People working in her network PPC so that there is electricity in every house. Like her people EYDAP who make sure everything works well to have water. Things that seem obvious but only are not. These people maintain these networks and they are the ones who will rush to fix any damage, wherever it is located.
Another example of everyday heroes is the firefighters who are also on the front lines. Evidence the tragedy that unfolded on Friday afternoon in Thessaloniki where two elderly people died tragically. None of the men who rushed there thought of the coronavirus. No one thought of himself. All of them, however, left the scene, sad that they could not save the unfortunate couple.
And finally, to bless our beards a little, there are also journalists and photojournalists, such as our own Giannis Kemmos, who are on the ramparts of reporting, outside their homes or offices, so that all of you can reach out to them. latest developments and all the news.
I apologize to those I forgot, because this base is so big and so useful in our society, that I definitely left someone out. Let them forgive me. I did not do it with deceit.
Many say that when this crisis is over, nothing will be as it was before. I personally endorse such a thing. I do not know if it will be for good or for bad, but I know that everything will be completely different. So, when the sky is clear of these black clouds that cover the sun today, let us not forget these heroes. Do not put them aside again. Not to mention that they are not important or do not affect the indicators of the economy. Let 's not say that these awesome and terrible… invisible markets will feel nervous if their salaries are not cut or a few their employment rights.
The time will come again when these people will be the ones to support the edifice of society. As they do now. And we must not forget that.