Who among us is essential?

For weeks I have been thinking about the question of who among us is ... or is not ... essential. There is something with the “nonessential” label I find uncomfortable and am ambivalent about.

And then there is the question about who decides how one person’s labor is more important than the work of another. It seems that overnight the term “essential worker” has consumed the media. Tributes are paid to them. Barbra Streisand heralded them in a video with the song, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Lists spring up regularly on the Internet with all kinds of professions that are deemed “essential.”

According to the federal Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), there are 14 employment categories referred to as “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers” and which are generally required to deliver services around the clock. It’s important to note that while the list covers the basic essential employees, each state can individually determine what it classifies as essential. And so, the categories may differ in each state.

Of course, health care workers usually get top billing everywhere. Now, make no mistake about my profound admiration for health care providers. It’s real, personal, and deeprooted. For the last twentytwo years as a patient with intervening stops at hospitals from Margaretville, N.Y. to Los Angeles, Calif., they have been my angels in blue and white.

It was comforting to see, on the CISA essential list, employees working in groceries, pharmacies, convenience stores, and other retail stores that sell food (including pet food) and beverages (including wine shops). These include those curbside helpers who fill our online grocery orders and bring them to our cars.

But who are the ones considered as non-essential? One definition is that a non-essential employee’s duties do not impact the critical infrastructure of a city, state, or country. Surprisingly, teachers are listed as non-essential because they can perform their work remotely.

That teachers are labeled non-essential is disheartening. It’s also shortsighted in view of the current Zoom teaching phenomenon. Undoubtedly virtual teaching is not entirely new. But it wasn’t a staple of most K-12 settings previously. Educators relied mainly on faceto-face interactions.

In the past many had never been on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or the likes. With the coronavirus crisis their world changed. Literally overnight they revamped their way of presenting information and teaching by going virtual.

Additionally, teachers had to train children and parents in using this online technology. Without teachers so quickly adapting as they did, it’s troubling to consider the extent to which a child’s educational progress might have suffered. Ask any parent if teachers should be on the essential workers list.

To be fair what is essential can be personally driven. At the top of nonessential workers list are hairdressers. Yet, for some, barbers, and beauticians, are lifeline necessities. I wonder how many have draped their mirrors to avoid looking at their hair growth.

So, is there any right answer to my essential/nonessential question? Does that hinge on our individual beliefs and perceptions? An article in the New York Times on Sunday, May 24, provided me with a sense of clarity about my ambivalence. It listed the names of 1,000 individuals of the almost 100,000 people in this country who had died from COVID-19 at the time the article was published.

In 17 columns on four pages the newspaper listed the names of individuals we had lost. Most striking was the Times front page with its six columns blanketed with only print.

There were no photos. Just names in darkened letters followed by a glimpse into each person’s life. I read them all.

There was a grandmother with an easy laugh, a sanitation worker living his fullest days, the lady who sang in her choir for 42 years, a first-responder during 9/11, one always ready with a one-liner to lighten things up, a crossing guard and accomplished seamstress, a woman who created her own version of “meals on wheels,” an educator who said, “I didn’t teach a subject, I taught children,” and on and on.

Guidelines such as the CISA list are always helpful. Without them it’s unlikely a society can function effectively during global health challenges.

But of those near 100,000 lost as of this past May and those who will continue leaving us, who is to say conclusively that because of a person’s trade or profession, one among them is more essential than any of the others?