Remember essential workers

As we open our gifts on Christmas morning (or whenever your family opens gifts) we would do well to remember the many people who keep the world running on Christmas day. We’re probably already aware of firemen, police officers, 911 operators, and other emergency personnel, as we should be. Between drunk driving, over-eating, and faulty extension cords, those people stay busier during the holidays than one might expect.

Somewhat less remembered are the pilots, flight attendants, engineers, drivers, baggage handlers, and air traffic controllers who keep the transportation sector moving. Then, of course, there are the hotels that welcome us to our destinations. We also need to keep the utilities running. Water, sewage, gas, and electricity all continue to flow on Christmas, and those systems need to be monitored when working and serviced when not.

Hospitals continue to run, as do most all sectors of the health services industry, including those who provide daily care for the elderly and infirm. Prisons are an area that most people don’t think about on Christmas, but those can’t stop running on the holidays either.

Of course, all of the people mentioned above need to eat, so the food and hospitality sector remains in service to feed the guests, patients, inmates, and travelers who require their support. What is less forgotten in our part of the world are the animals that need to be fed, watered and doctored as well. From large-animal producers to our local humane society, critters need the same ongoing care as any other day of the year.

I’m sure that I’m leaving many sectors out, but only for a lack of imagination and not a lack of gratitude. If you are reading this online, please add any that I have overlooked in the comments section so all can be properly acknowledged.

I once read a poll that estimated as many as one in four Americans work on holidays. That struck me as being a bit higher than my personal experience would indicate, but it underlines what a privilege it truly is to be able to spend time traveling and being with family on major holidays. It also reminds me that those who work through the festivities are in good company. Working on holidays, Christmas in particular is woven into the fabric of our national history.

The one sector I intentionally saved for last is our military. They remain on alert for holidays, and away from home and family, and they have been doing so since the founding of our country. It was in 1776, a short six months since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that our backs were truly against the wall at exactly this time of year. Militarily, we were all but whipped. Our army had been run out of New York, then New Jersey, then over the Delaware river into Pennsylvania. The Continental Army was starving, shoeless and on the verge of mutiny. Indeed, many had deserted, and with enlistments for the remaining troops running out at the end of the year, we were nearly without an army.

By Emanuel Leutze - The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Public Domain

The British knew exactly what our situation was and were ready to bring our rebellion to a close. They were already drawing up our terms of surrender and looking forward to post-revolutionary, British rule of the American Colonies. George Washington knew it too, and he understood that it was time to pull out a “hail mary” or the cause would be lost.

We have all seen images of the famous Emanuel Leutze painting of Washington crossing the Delaware river back into New Jersey, standing up in a small boat that was filled beyond capacity. It’s a very noble, patriotic image, but anyone who spends time on boats is forced to overlook the impracticality of the painting and look for its inspirational value. What is more realistic, yet less prominent in the painting is the long row of boats in the background crossing with him. He, in fact, managed to move 2,400 troops across that river in perilous conditions that many would dismiss as not being possible.

The rest of the story is well-known. In an age when European warfare was elaborately choreographed and wars were often put on hold pending better weather, George Washington organized his troops on December 25 and moved it across a stormy river to attack a garrison of more than 900 Hessian mercenaries, killing 22 and capturing 896 with only two American fatalities. The unexpected attack signaled a turning of the war, put the wind back in the sails of the revolution, and led to ultimate victory, but you already knew that, right?

What’s important to remember is that while we are enjoying our time observing the holidays with friends and family, we do so only because there are others looking out for us. We need to appreciate those folks, and when possible, lend a helping hand.

Let’s take a few hours out of our holiday so one of our heroes can be with their family, if only for a short time before they go back to protecting ours. It’s something that most of us can do, and it doesn’t have to be difficult. At the very least, it won’t require us to go to New Jersey. That would be a deal-breaker for me.

Many thanks to those who help us on holidays. I wish you all a safe and healthy holiday.