Hello to Everyone Stuck at Work

When you drive to work at 0430 on the 25th of December you get a good idea of which jobs really matter in this world. I live near a hospital. The staff parking lot was 1/4 full. I drove by police and fire departments. Lights still on there. The ambulance was parked in its usual spot beside the highway onramp waiting for the inevitable early morning road accident. The hotels all had people working front desks. I saw an airliner pass overhead. Pilots and countless aircraft-related jobs are all at work moving people around this morning. At work my ID was checked by a guard. I took a handover from the night shift, then started phoning my cohorts doing similar jobs at other locations. All across the western world, people are sleeping in or beside vehicles waiting for the red phone to ring. Then there are hundreds of people staring at screens on darkened offices ready to call those phones. If you are reading this at work then you are doing a job that matters, one that cannot be put on pause for a day. If not for us, everyone else wouldn't sleep so soundly this morning.

I'll see most of you again next week. If you are working this morning you will likely be working New Year's too.