Are we reducing what it takes to be considered brave or to be a hero?

[Curt]

Are we reducing what it takes to be considered brave or to be a hero?

I went grocery shopping today and they had a sign that says hero's work here. Is the 25 year (assuming they have no serious underlying health issue) old cashier at a grocery store a hero for working during covid 19?

I guess when a lot of people think of the term "hero" they think of a guy storming the beaches of Normandy or pulling a kid out of a burning car. Or a guy (or woman) jumping it the water and saving someone from drowning.

Have we cheapened the word hero to basically cover any "essential employee"? I work as a city bus driver in the Wash DC area. So should I be considered a hero for working with the public during this pandemic and possibly exposing myself to the virus? Granted there have been quite a few metro bus drivers who did end up catching covid 19 and did end up dying in NYC for example. But im 42 and im in relatively good shape so yes I am taking a risk. But I would consider it a relatively minor risk. So does that rise to the level of showing courage or being a hero?

I do also notice the hero's work here sign in front of hospitals and places where medical staff work and I would completely agree they meet the definition of hero.

Anyway thoughts?

[Davin]

Words like "hero" are more often misused to try to invoke emotions in people to get them to spend more money on them. Like "hero" for instance is supposed to invoke respect, admiration, and trust. They don't want to do the work for people to see them in action and gain those feelings on their own, but they do want people to have those feelings towards their employees. So they invoke the term even when it doesn't belong and it cheapens the word a little.

That's advertising. Advertising (now and for a quite a long time), is like being in a light mentally abusive and manipulative relationship. I don't like it, but it appears to work on enough people that they keep advertising that way.

[Randy]

The problem that I see with calling everyone a hero is that it diminishes the term, waters it down.

When I was hospitalized in April I had no choice but to watch TV or my IV pump. I chose TV. I kept seeing a commercial for a well known store (I don't know if I'm allowed to use it on a public forum) where the announcer mentioned that heroes work there.

I thought, "Really? Someone putting a box on a conveyor belt is a hero now?" I should have been one because I typed instructions into a computer to make it do things. Nah, that would water it down even more.

[No one]

Very brave of you to take such a heroic stance.

[Tom62]

Very brave of you to take such a heroic stance.

 

[Sandra Craft]

With some essential workers there's a fine line, or no line, between "essential" and "expendable".  When one of them dies or simply becomes too sick to work for longer than a few days it's easy enough to find someone else so desperate for an income that they'll work in hazardous conditions during a pandemic.  Unlike heroes in the classic definition, they have no real choice about putting themselves in danger -- it's risk your life or lose your home and go hungry.  Calling essential/expendable workers heroes is annoying for reasons beyond watering down the meaning of a word, it's nothing but a feel-good sop in lieu of paying them a living wage, much less hazard pay.

[billy rubin]

i am a hero

just ask my dog

[Randy]

i am a hero

just ask my dog

I did ask your dog. It just barked at me. I don't know how to interpret that but it's good enough for me!

[No one]

[xSilverPhinx]

I just Greg Larson comics.

[Curt]

With some essential workers there's a fine line, or no line, between "essential" and "expendable".  When one of them dies or simply becomes too sick to work for longer than a few days it's easy enough to find someone else so desperate for an income that they'll work in hazardous conditions during a pandemic.  Unlike heroes in the classic definition, they have no real choice about putting themselves in danger -- it's risk your life or lose your home and go hungry.  Calling essential/expendable workers heroes is annoying for reasons beyond watering down the meaning of a word, it's nothing but a feel-good sop in lieu of paying them a living wage, much less hazard pay.

Very well thought out post.  Yes there is a fine line between  "essential" and "expendable".  I think we call a lot of the low wages workers heroes just to make them feel better that they are indeed expendable.  Unfortunately its they people with little or no power are treated in the is society

[billy rubin]

i agree

for more than the first time, sandra has pointed out a clear hypocrisy. remember when donald trump refused to take action on the virus in medical terms but quickly responded to predictions of meat shortages bt declaring slaughterhouses essential industries and their workers alzo essential?

so the black and brown people were told they had to cintinue to show up for work. and then they began to die. but that was not as important as keeping american bellies full of chicken nuggets

today in britain essential workers have all got pay raises to help them cope with economic issuez stemming from the virus. but not nurses.

boris claps in applause for them instead.

[Tom62]

i agree

for more than the first time, sandra has pointed out a clear hypocrisy. remember when donald trump refused to take action on the virus in medical terms but quickly responded to predictions of meat shortages bt declaring slaughterhouses essential industries and their workers alzo essential?

so the black and brown people were told they had to cintinue to show up for work. and then they began to die. but that was not as important as keeping american bellies full of chicken nuggets

today in britain essential workers have all got pay raises to help them cope with economic issuez stemming from the virus. but not nurses.

boris claps in applause for them instead.

Here in Germany the essential slaughterhouse workers are cheap subcontracted workers from Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. No need to keep them healthy or give them good housing. Just let them die of Covid-19, because why should we care? https://ga.de/ga-english/news/more-than-1300-coronavirus-cases-in-meat-factory_aid-51778017

[Randy]

How does one differentiate between expendable and essential. I know that most medical doctors would be essential. However, people still have to eat so is a meat packing plant and its workers essential? I don't think fast food is essential. Most people can boil Raman noodles or read the directions on a box of Hamburger Helper.

I'm probably wrong somewhere and missing something.

[Sandra Craft]

How does one differentiate between expendable and essential. I know that most medical doctors would be essential. However, people still have to eat so is a meat packing plant and its workers essential? I don't think fast food is essential. Most people can boil Raman noodles or read the directions on a box of Hamburger Helper.

I'm probably wrong somewhere and missing something.

The essential workers are all the people who need to keep working no matter what -- from doctors and cops to store clerks.  All essential.  The ones who are also expendable are on the store clerk end -- poorly paid, few or no benefits, unhealthy working conditions and no chance of that changing because if they die or become too sick to work, they can be easily replaced.  Essential and expendable.