One clear positive that has come about from the pandemic, is the appreciation and gratitude that most if not all of us feel about the essential front line workers that leave the safety of their homes to work with the general public...with all the inherent risks that are involved.
And we show our appreciation in many ways.
The residents of this Manhattan high-rise have always appreciated Rosa ( she has chosen not to reveal her last name.)
For twenty years, she has cleaned the building….the halls and elevators and all the common areas, as well as many of the residents personal homes.
Like many, the pandemic has hit her hard.
She lost many employers and had to give up her home and she and her family had to move in with her sister.
Her house full of furniture had to go into storage.
She lost her car and had to depend on public transit, but still was always on time to be there in the morning.
And not just be there physically.
She was there fully.
Said one tenant, “ She always has a smile on her face. She is always interested about our lives, our children, our health.
She’s the real deal.”
And then she was furloughed from the building itself though she still had the tenants units.
And though she was no longer getting paid, she worried about the safety of those in the building, so she still cleaned the building!
The residents weren’t having it.
They showed the property managers the errors of their ways, and she was reinstated and they clearly saw how devoted she was to their safety.
So they did something about it
And under the guise of having another cleaning job, the property managers brought her up the newly remodeled penthouse suite…. 2,500 square foot, 4 bedroom, 3 bath unit, with two huge outdoor areas….the largest unit in the building...to show it to her.
To tell her that it’s hers.
It’s a two year lease...and tenants have already started making promises to extend it beyond that.
Those from NYC knows that this place can go for $15-20k and up monthly, so this was no small gesture.
But…..are there small gestures?
On the other side of the country, in West Covina, California, Gregory Martinez noticed that their mailman was unprepared for the rain but was still making his rounds in the early evening, soaking wet.
So Gregory and his daughter grabbed his new poncho and ran to the door.
Said Gregory, “We take care of one another.”
Indeed we do.
And i have no doubt that everyone here says with a smile ‘thank you’ to those that are there when we need them, from cashier to mechanic to cleaner to mailman/woman.
And a smile and thank you at the right place and time….priceless.
And even with a mask, we know when someone is smiling.
No gesture is too small.
We feel a level of gratitude and appreciation that they’re bringing a level of normality to a very….unnormal?….abby normal?….new normal?….world.
And making it easier for us to do what we do.
Man, do we ever appreciate you.
Now, more than ever.