Essential workers deserve respect and better pay

For a brief moment during the beginning of the pandemic, it looked like we were finally beginning to understand the undeniable value of our essential workers. We thanked those risking their lives to make sure we were fed, our elderly were cared for, and the stores we visited were clean.

How quickly that fleeting respect vanished into a rage of screaming at these same workers about why it was our freedom to not wear a mask, why our inalienable right to spread a deadly virus was worth more than their right to life.

How quickly that fleeting respect vanished, too, as Congress debated raising the minimum wage to a level that would allow anyone with a job not to be rich, but to simply earn enough to survive. The devaluation has become so ingrained in our society that we no longer even call for a fair wage, just a living wage. We have acquiesced that it would be unthinkable to demand the backbone of our economy be paid enough to live comfortably. The debate has become, “Should they be paid enough to even live at all?”

Those who belittle the work of our retail or service workers either were never employed in one of these jobs, or they do not remember the demands of the job. The job I held in a grocery store for the better part of a decade was the hardest I worked from start to finish of a shift. It taught me to value every contributing member of our society based on effort, not their net worth.

Every day, our economy continues to function because of millions of people doing the work that so many belittle as something “meant for a high schooler to do,” as if grocery stores and restaurants are only open on weekends and evenings. It is beyond time we start giving these workers not only the respect they deserve, but the pay to go with it. While many of us work safely from home, these heroes are literally dying from disease and, as we saw recently in Colorado, even bullets to keep us fed. The least we can do is acknowlege their worth, both economically and personally.

We have acquiesced that it would be unthinkable to demand the backbone of our economy be paid enough to live comfortably. The debate has become, “Should they be paid enough to even live at all?”