Support Each Other

I was driving behind a vehicle bearing the “Support Our Troops” message when I began to wonder why we support military workers and not others. I understand that this campaign is politically rooted with the Canadian presence in Afghanistan. I also understand that some Canadian soldiers have lost their lives there, and I am saddened about this. Still, the obvious visible symbolism of supporting a worker in one industry and not another irks me.

With this seed of a thought seeping through my mind, I saw a construction worker working on the roof of a four-story building and, hopefully, securely tied-off with a harness. Is that man deserving of our support? Well, he is performing a task to keep the building safe and sound thereby keeping the tenants safe within. Yet we don’t bear a ribbon to support him. “It’s his job. It’s what he gets paid for,” some would argue. Same with our troops, right? Yet if, as a result of his work, he slipped and fell and his harness broke, he would become a statistic and that’s all.

Within the last few months I witnessed a police officer wrestling a young offender to the ground, I spoke with a bank teller who shared her experience of working when an armed robbery took place, then there was the paramedic who performed CPR in the midst of oncoming traffic, and I thought about a firefighter enter a burning building. In each instance I empathized with the situation the worker was experiencing and I felt appreciation for the work that each of them did.

We all have hazards where we work. Some of us are aware of those hazards when we agree to take on the work. This would definitely be the case with jobs deemed dangerous like police officers, loggers, fire fighters, fishers, construction workers and the military.

What about those people who expect to expect to perform office work yet are subjected to bullying, or manufacturing jobs where safety measures in the plant are ignored, or a hospital environment where staff work 24/7 with only a few hours of sleep, or the school workplace where psychological harassment runs rampant. These workers did not expect the difficult conditions they are currently subjected to, yet they continue to provide an excellent service that we all benefit from. Are these workers deserving of our support? Absolutely yes! They are deserving of it at the same level as supporting our troops.

I am not suggesting that this situation is one of mutual exclusivity whereby supporting our troops means that we do not support other workers. The suggestion to ponder is that when we focus on workers from only one industry the implication is that all other workers are not deserving of the same type or level of support unless they work in another country under difficult conditions. Furthermore, when other workers witness that members of the military and their families receive preferred treatment by municipalities and retailers, like 10% off their meal, then the messaging is clear that one type of worker is more deserving than another.

If we are going to bear ribbons in support of workers, it should include everyone. Let our ribbons proudly bear the words, “Support Each Other.” By virtue of a job existing means that someone is in need of those services and therefore the person performing those services should be supported.

Furthermore, if we are going the route of ribbons, I think our ribbon should speak to our inclusivity, and could be a spectrum of colours like a rainbow. It would proudly represent our diversity, our uniqueness and the colourful life we each individually live.

Let’s “Support Each Other” in this amazing journey we’re having together called life.