An ode to the essential workers of the pandemic

Essential Worker, Koksijde, Belgium

Now that things have pretty much gone back to normal, the days of fear seem to have grown fuzzy. Many essential workers made tremendous sacrifices in the most difficult circumstances, but even those seem to have faded a bit from memory. I certainly hope that we do not completely forget them, for these heroes came out every day without fanfare and stoically went to work so that the world may keep on turning.

However, there were really not many people around in the mornings. In Geneva itself, the morning rush hour felt like the middle of the night: even the busiest streets were devoid of life. A few people darted in and out of mostly empty buses and trams. This image of a solitary person, in Koksijde, Belgium, darting out and marching off into the unknown reminds me of those mornings.

Although I have no idea if this person was going to work, the fact that he was the only one to come out that morning makes me wonder if he was an essential worker. Belgium, in those days, was in the grip of the most terrible explosion of Covid cases, and the restrictions were tight. Only our daily heroes, called out to duty, ventured out early in the morning. Perhaps he was one of them, and if so, he has my gratitude, for we must be thankful to all of them, no matter where they lived or worked. The world, as a whole, needed them, and they showed up.

While I wish that I could do more to acknowledge their sacrifices, I am somewhat sustained by the thought that these images at least record their selfless acts to some measure.