Essential? Really?
Words create worlds. Nouns and verbs make people do things and adjectives and adverbs make stories rich. It’s true. No, really true. Our words create worlds for us. And I don’t mean Narnia. I mean worlds of safety and adventure and love and overcoming. And precision matters, as The Giver reminds us.
A single word can change people. Try ‘j’accuse’ or ‘pregnant.’
So COVID-19 emerges and one word rises to the front of the discussion: ‘essential’ (‘unprecedented’ could be a contender, so could ‘social distancing,’ but that’s two words).
Hospital procedures were allowed or denied based on the ‘essential’ nature of keeping a patient alive right now.
Businesses were separated into those that must close and those that would be allowed to open by their ‘essential’ nature of running the country. Employees were separated into furloughed or fired by the ‘essential’ nature of their role in running the company.
These designations are inherently judgmental: somebody official assesses the situation and determines that your procedure, company and position are absolutely necessary to the continued pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (or the economy; it's unclear) It’s a lot to take in.
The majority of the list seems to make sense, but then the arguments begin as the judgements become personal: liquor stores are essential and teachers aren’t? Bowling alleys made the short list but churches didn’t? Carol is still employed and Frank isn't?
What followed were discussions on both sides of ‘essential.’ Many felt that their role, job, procedure should in fact be deemed essential, angry at what was on the list. By contrast, and a bit surprising to me, was the discussion from those on the ‘essential’ side of the equation, noting that haircuts are important, but essential? Really? Right now? For how long? At what risk? For whom? Everyone in my circle that managed to maintain their work was undoubtedly grateful to have it, however designated.
And then the existential questions set in: what does essential really mean? How is my work at the essence of surviving this pandemic? How is it core to running this company? Am I essential or is my role?
The words we give things, the categories we find ourselves in create worlds in which we must reconcile against our reality. In the end, what mattered to folks I knew was the value they could provide to others. Certainly, our doctors and nurses are critical to fighting the pandemic and they need their oil changed at some point, so the express lube guy can serve. As the circumstances changed and the 'wheat' of surviving separated from the political 'chaff,' we began to settle into the necessity of contributing to one another, which will always stand outside of executive orders.