When the pandemic struck, many of us found ourselves sitting at home, either working remotely or not even being able to work at all. But not everyone was in lockdown—there were the essential workers who were out there, helping push away the tide of the coronavirus by working onsite.
Now, these people aren’t just medics, police, firefighters, grocery store employees, and pharmacists. As lockdown conditions were gradually lifted, people like restaurant workers, barbers, Uber drivers, and many others returned to work, risking getting infected, but also helping the world adapt and becoming essential workers in the process.
And even though, sad to say, the companies and institutions that these people represent were rarely actually thankful for the work they do, it’s the internet that showed just how much we should be appreciative of essential workers and how awesome they are despite the harsh circumstances.
Bored Panda has collected some of the best and most wholesome posts and stories about essential workers and why they’re awesome in appreciation of their hard work and dedication. We invite you to read through them below, and, while you're there, why not vote and comment on the ones you liked the most!
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When The Kindergartners Learn Sign Language So That They Could Wish Their Deaf Janitor A Happy Birthday
When Your Barber Was The Reason Why Someone's Last Days Seemed Like The Best Ones
When Your Uber Driver Takes You To The Hospital And Ends Up Keeping You Company Because Your Family Is Out Of State
When The School Bus Driver Gets A Bunch Of Valentine's Candies And Cards For The Kids He Drives Daily
When Your Amazon Courier Also Brings Back Your Trash Cans That Have Been Knocked Over And Pushed Away By Strong Winds
When Post Couriers Take A Slight Detour On Their Route To Make A Girl's Birthday That Much Better
When Road Workers Find Time To Explain To The Neighborhood Kids How Roads Work
When You're On Your First Day Of School, Nervous As Heck, And The Bus Driver Holds Your Hand Throughout The Entire Trip So That You Would Feel Comforted
When The Elementary School Bus Driver Asks Every Kid On The Bus What They Want For Christmas And Then Proceeds To Fulfill Everyone's Wish
God Bless You dear man. You really know how to make your students feel special.
When You Treat Your Janitors Like Human Beings And Be Their Friends
When You Come Out To Your Very Religious Family Who Decide You're Not Welcome To Family Holidays, And Then Your Professor Invites You Over
When Your Cashiers Don't Know The Meaning Of Fear And Tackle A Big Spider Head-On
Good for him that he helped her out and "rehomed" the spider, instead of squishing it.
When Actual Human Beings Work In The Service Industry And Make You Feel More At Home Than Real Home
With this kind of extra service, you make your customers feel so welcome, that you probably have another customer for life.
When Waiters Walk The Extra Mile To Show Support For A Post-Op Client
When The Local Police Bring Your Drunk Self Home
When Before Every Chemotherapy Session, A 9 Y.o. Stops At A Starbucks Where The Employees Give Him A Pep Talk
I read about this recently. How very thoughtful of you and your coworkers.
When Your Local Bus Driver Decorates Every Halloween And Gives Out Candy
Next stop: Beyond this mortal plane. Followed by Charing Cross.
When Your Neighbor Is A Paramedic And The Entire Neighborhood Gathers For A Round Of Applause For All The Hard Work They Do
Thank you for making their day. A show of appreciation, can really lift a person's spirit when they are under so much stress.
When Your Local McDonald's Sends Their Condolences Regarding Your Late Grandpa Who Used To Frequent Said McDonald's
I know this was greatly appreciated by his family. When my grandma died, her favorite waitress from a restaurant she frequented, took off and came to the funeral. We were very touched to see her there.
When The Nurses Work 36-Hour Shifts With Just One Protective Suit And Are Soaking Wet After They Take It Off
God Bless you. May your employers rectify this situation very, very soon.
When The Neighborhood Garbage Collectors Show Some Love For A Boy And Get Him A Swag Bag With A Garbage Truck
When It's A Pandemic And This San Pedro Librarian Pedals With Books On A Mission To Gather Young Readers
When You're A Kid And You Ask A FedEx Courier To Bring Your Skateboard To Tony Hawk, And He Does, And Then Tony Decides To Send One Of His Back
When You Try Your Best And Your Teacher Appreciates The Effort Instead Of Being Harsh
When Your Bus Driver Takes The Time To Drive You Personally Home Because You Got Lost
I was waiting at a bus stop in the pouring rain not knowing my bus had been diverted when a bus on its way back to the garage at the end of the driver's shift stopped to pick me up. The driver explained what had happened and then went out of his way to drive me to a spot where I could get a working bus to my destination. ❤️
When Your Postman Leaves A Package As Well As Some Doggie Treats For Your Good Boy
"So...are you going to open the door or continue to stand there and take pictures?"
When A 62 Y.o. Doctor Of 30+ Years Decides To Volunteer At The Covid Unit Because He Never Thinks Of Himself—only The Patients
When Your Barber Makes Sure The Homeless Live In Style
When Your Mailman Is An Ex-Soccer Player And Your Daughter Starts Asking For Daily Tips On It, Which Turns Into A Soccer Lesson
She'll always remember your soccer tutoring as she develops her skills. Way to encourage tomorrow's champions!
When The Bus Driver Vibes With A Child And Moves To "Shake It Off" By Tailor Swift
When You're Quitting A "Big Box Mart" Job And The Company Doesn't Acknowledge It, But The Baker Does
When The Nurses At The Hospital You Give Birth At Mails You The Ultrasound Of Your Baby After You Left It In The Labor Room, Plus Congratulatory Greeting Card!
When A Restaurant Is Extra Thankful For Your Patronage
I hope this is referring to supporting a chinese takeaway, and not covid-denialism dine-in.
I might be wrong, but I think the “irrational fear” they’re referring to is people think they can get Covid ordering takeaway because it’s a *Chinese* restaurant.
Load More Replies...Sigh...what is it about Buzzfeeders who automatically think the the worst? HELLO! In case you haven't paid attention: in the early days of the pandemic, many people were blaming all Asians for Covid. They boycotted Asian owned businesses and led hate marches against all Asians, particularly Chinese. This was and is ignorant. If you truly believe hating someone because of their race, national origin, skin color, religion, sexual orientation or any other outward difference or if you blame others for standing up against hate, then YOU are wrong and YOU are part of the large problem. This person was merely thanking a customer for being open-minded and intelligent enough to know that the virus does not discriminate and that supporting the business was the right thing to do. Of-course, some here will consider it the wrong thing to have done...nothing will change the mind of hate-motivated people.
A LOT of Asian people and businesses are bearing more than their fair share of the struggles against this pandemic due to the IRRATIONAL AND RACIST tendency for people to blame somebody for bad things that happen. Thank you to all the customers and other decent human beings that don't give in to that trend, and who stay human, compassionate and intelligent!
During the start of the pandemic, I didn’t eat out for MONTHS. I didn’t eat out until maybe September / October. So I appreciate home-cooked food way more now and also realized you can recreate anything at home except Chinese food and donuts really. That’s all I ever order now, otherwise it’s at home. Also you’d think that Chinese places would be the MOST careful since they’re the ones being scrutinized the hardest and it’s probably already more culturally acceptable to not ignore epidemics for them. It’s like the safest bet on takeaway food.
Load More Replies...I suspect this note was written fairly early on in the pandemic. Far too many people blamed all Asians for the pandemic and then boycotted Asian owned businesses. This was a prime example of "irrational" and discriminatory" behavior. Before assuming the worst...as too many do...consider what MAY have been the case, as in here. Some immediately jumped to the word "irrational" and thought taking precautions was irrational. No, what was and is irrational is fear based on hate and a belief in your superiority because of your skin color, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation or any other outward difference.
I think you hit upon the problem. It's not about assuming the worst, however (personally I view racism to be worse than covid deniers). It has to do with the timing of the post. Those of us who misunderstood the OP to mean irrational fear of dining in did not immediately think of what happened 9 MONTHS AGO, as apposed to what is happening NOW, which in my town are a bunch of covid-deniers who are constantly and purposefully taking unnecessary risks. Before we jump all over people, we should consider that we all have different experiences and live in different places, where certain issues are more prevalent than others. It is interesting that half the commenters focused on "Mr. Chan" and the others on "irrational". It is not unreasonable for people to assume the post is refering to what they are personally experiencing currently.
Load More Replies..."and not let irrational fear be a barrier between us" as hundreds of thousands die, many alone. not much of a hero here...
The point is that a lot of people were avoiding Chinese restaurants because they somehow thought sweet and sour chicken from the place down the block was THE source of COVID in the neighborhood. This person's order is helping Mr. Chan stay in business and feel like at least someone doesn't illogically blame them for a pandemic when we're all in the same boat (screwed, jobless, scared, and waiting for a vaccine). Not every heroic action has to be huge and public to be important.
Load More Replies...Not giving in to irrational fear is not covid denialism, it's simply making a rational choice to not give in to fear over this virus, and trying to live calmly through it the best way you can.
When Your Cashier Gives You A $1 Discount Because That's Exactly How Much You Need For Those Matador Bites
This warms my cold heart... Cold because of the temperature outside, not, ya know....
This warms my cold heart... Cold because of the temperature outside, not, ya know....