Mister Rogers taught us when there are scary things, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
A friend reminded me of that when she asked what I’d post for Good News this week, and a responded with “I don’t know. Do you have any ideas?”
She sent me a list of people doing good things here in Greene County to take away some of the stress, fear and frustration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She included Fareway paying bonuses to its front line employees; Pastor Julie (Poulsen of First United Methodist Church) posting a video to Facebook daily of rather ordinary things, like a chat with her dog or birds on the roof of the church; the mail carriers who are still bringing us mail every day; food in the grocery stores; librarians who will bring items out to a patron’s car; and Facebook memes about toilet paper.
She told me of a cashier from one of our grocery stores who stopped by her house Saturday afternoon to deliver a bag of a particular kind of chips my friend had asked for Friday. They were out of stock, but arrived at the store Saturday. The cashier took my friend a bag and then refused to accept payment, just about running back to her car to avoid being paid.
The same friend told me in some towns people are putting stuffed animals in their front windows so children and parents can walk past looking for them. She said she’d love to see that happen in Jefferson. by
And on my street in south central Jefferson, my neighbor decorated her picture window for passers-by.
What can you add to the list?
For the next several weeks, I invite all GCNO readers to share tales of the helpers you’ve seen, the people you’ve noticed spending a bit of extra time or effort to brighten someone else’s day. Maybe we’ll all get some ideas for things we can do to reveal the silver lining in the Coronacloud.
Send an email to news@greenecountynewsonline.com. We’re in this together.
