Dear Comex,A friend of mine read my comments that I posted yesterday re: Comex and this was his response. Dear Members of Comex:
Like all us, you’ve lived through the most challenging two years of our lifetime. Front line workers have put their lives on the line as a commitment that we as a community, precede with our lives with as much normality as possible.
Within the last two weeks, I’m guessing that each member has purchased a loaf of bread from their local grocery store.
Let’s talk about that bread’s journey:
Grain from a farmer’s field was transferred by truck to a mill to be refined. The loading and unloading of such product involved a number of steps and personnel.
The finished product was then shipped to a bakery to be properly prepared. Again, a number of people were involved to see your product to fruition.
The finished product was then transported to your hometown and delivered to a local grocery store. This store may be located within walking distance, or if you live in an urban dwelling, a short elevator ride to a store located at the ground floor.
When the driver, let’s call him Floyd, delivered your bread to the store, Roy had to unload the bread from the truck to be stored in the back room. Andy, who worked the night shift, took the bread from the back room and stocked it on the shelf for the day’s customers. You walked in, threw it in your cart and proceeded to the checkout where Nancy rang your order through.
Unfortunately, the journey was not as problem free as illustrated.
In the frigid weather the farmer’s tractor failed to start.
Floyd got a flat tire and Randy, from Randy’s Truck Repair, came to the rescue.
Roy missed the bus and had to walk the 2 miles to work.
Andy broke his wrist playing pickup hockey, and because of his insufficient benefit plan came to work in a cast.
Nancy’s dog, Crabcake, ate a whole box of After Dinner Mints and had because of the dark chocolate, had to be taken to the vet. She arrived at her shift just in the nick of time to process your order.
The common thread through all of these steps was that some type of physical labor was required to put your bread on the table. None of these people could sit in front of a computer screen, in the comfort of their homes to complete the task at hand. They didn’t blame the weather. They didn’t blame the government…and they didn’t blame Covid.
They just did their damn job.