Bill Graham
When you live in a midwestern county with small towns, and a chunk of big city that feels like a small town, and farms still being farmed, you feel pretty insulated from worldly problems that make the news. This year, though, we roll into Thanksgiving reminded that it is a small world after all, thanks to a microscopic COVID-19 virus. Platte County has something very much in common with the rest of Planet Earth. We all fear something too small for our eyes to see.
Mix our virus fears with a whacky political year, a staggered economy, and the rest of the world’s problems seeming as if they’re on our doorstep, too, being grateful takes on a different tone as the turkey is carved. New things are added to our gratitude list.
I’m thankful that so many Platte Countians are taking the COVID-19 risks seriously. My measurement of this is taken mostly in the grocery store. I remember in February when I first saw someone buying groceries with a mask on. The rest of us shopping were maskless. That person now seems bolder and smarter than the rest of us. Mask usage fluctuated throughout the summer. But by autumn, it was unusual to see someone in the store without a mask. Most people are now trying hard to protect themselves and be courteous to others. Thank you.
I’ve now had distant family members of various ages survive COVID-19, and for that I am grateful. Some got quite ill, others passed through it with mild symptoms. I have a friend in St. Louis who was not expected to make it, but he did. Though he has very serious problems from it to contend with now. How the sickness affects people varies greatly, but no one can be sure what end of the spectrum their case will reach. We can be thankful that despite a current spike in the virus, and a harsh prediction for winter, people in our local medical community are working hard to keep up with the latest in treatments for those ill.
Let us be thankful that despite the threat we can still go to the grocery store and buy what is needed for a turkey day feast. Thanks to the truckers who haul food to our stores, and to the masked checkout clerks and grocery baggers who enable us to shop. Many of us are working from home now as a precaution, and I’m very grateful for my kitchen table desk. But the people working in the grocery markets and other stores don’t have that option. They have kept us going, and we thank them.
Small business owners do so much to add variety and needed services to a community. These times are not easy for them. Thanks to those who are hanging in there and keeping their doors open to us.
Our schoolteachers, office staff, custodial staff, administrators have had extra burdens due to the virus. So have our students and the bus drivers that transport them. They have bravely kept going. Things are different, and schools may change between now and spring for better or worse, but educators have worked hard so that all is not lost in a pandemic year.
The basic wheels of government keep turning. We can turn the lights and the water taps on. This fall’s monumental election happened in our county with no major problems, and we’re thankful for the many people who worked on it. Our firefighters and law enforcement officers will respond to emergencies despite the virus. Thank you.
I’m grateful for people who treat those around them kindly, no matter how they might have voted. May Thanksgiving be the start of a holiday season that smooths out jagged edges left by election year. We all want food and warmth on a holiday, and to be part of a community that is a welcoming place.