Editorial: Those are actual people who are doing their job

As we go through our everyday lives, it’s easy to forget that people have jobs, whether it’s one that they want to do or don’t want to do. But more importantly, many of us forget a key element of this; they are people.

Nobody’s perfect at their job. We all understand that. However, we must remember that these people are working for a reason. Some people are working to pay bills while others are working to support a family. Some people have more than one job to attempt to live comfortably. But remember; they are people.

I say this because there are many jobs people have that some don’t consider the person actually doing this. My first example is anybody involved in law enforcement, fire, or emergency response personnel.

Say a person gets pulled over for speeding by a police officer. That person receives a ticket and begins to curse at the officer for thinking about doing such a thing. But what if that scenario got out of hand? What if that person attempts to elude the officers instead? Now the officer must prevent others from getting hurt and end the pursuit not only quickly, but safely.

But is that eluding driver thinking about the officer’s life? That officer has a family, children, and a life outside of the uniform. That deputy or trooper may want to go home and have a good meal or take their child to practice. Just like other occupations, the officer has bills to pay and mouths to feed.

Another occupation can be a teacher. The facts are well-known that they are underpaid. Education and teaching is required under the law. A child must receive an education. It takes good-hearted people to work in that field. A teacher may have to call a parent to discuss a student’s behavior or grades and be on the receiving end of cursing or criticism.

But yet, that educator has a life as well. Working five (and possibly) more days than that, that teacher wants to sit back and watch a little television. Or maybe take a small vacation to the beach and not have to worry about calls.

There is a plethora of jobs that can fit this bill; taxi driver, waiter, fast food employee, soldier, janitor, and so many more. But it also applies to bosses, computer technicians, pilots, scientists, CEOs, etc.

The point of this editorial is to say that we should attempt to respect a person when they are working at a job. There will be imperfections and criticism of what the person does, but personal insults and attacks are not warranted. Each occupation and job have a purpose and believe it or not, from the smallest task to the biggest, we all need to intertwine and work together to make our society one of understanding and stability.

So the next time there is a mistake on a meal you ordered at a restaurant or when you get ticketed for not having a seatbelt on during a random road check, remember that the person on the other end is doing something to make their life better. You can help them by not making it any worse.