Would you abuse a Key Worker?

As a nation we stand and applaud our NHS every Thursday at 8, and rightly so. We are grateful to the supermarket delivery driver who restocks our groceries, and when the postman or courier delivers our latest online purchase we are pleased to hear the doorbell ring.

But there are other key workers who are being subjected to increased abuse by members of the public.

I have been speaking with key leaders from my client base this week to discuss the changing landscape, how their businesses have been affected, how they have adapted. As you would expect there have been masses of innovative changes, but the one thing they all had in common, was a marked increase in the amount of abuse their staff had been subjected to.

The operative in a trench making sure your home has clean water during a pandemic, the HV engineer ensuring your electricity supply remains uninterrupted, the Highways Operative maintaining the roads that are carrying vital supplies, the Railway worker carrying out essential works during this time of increased Rail Freight usage. Why should they be treated any differently?

I am not suggesting the public applauds them, they are doing their job, but no one should be sworn at, spat at, threatened, be photographed, told they should not be working.

Wouldn’t we all miss those vital services they provide?

Maybe it’s easy in this current climate to leap to conclusions when we see two Operatives sat in the same vehicle and think they are breaching a 2m protocol? How are we to know they are father and son?

In a time when more than ever we need kindness and tolerance, shouldn’t we stop and pause rather than assume the worst and act on impulse. When our “new normal” phone calls all end with “stay safe”, maybe we should spare a thought for ALL of our nations’ Key Workers, and what they are doing for us.