A Lighter View
Recognition
By K.E.H. Stagg

April 16, 2009

This coming week is Administrative Professionals Day, when bosses everywhere are supposed to thank their secretaries, personal assistants and all the lower echelon staff members who make them look good. Having been an administrative professional for much of my life, I appreciate how overworked and underappreciated many of my fellow workers are, and can see why someone thought it a good idea to correct this serious oversight.

But what about other professions that don’t get any recognition whatsoever, and even less of a profile in the public eye than secretarial staff? What about farmers? Dillsburg’s annual fall fair dedicated to the farming industry is unique, but there’s no nationwide recognition of the hard-working individuals who raise the crops, cattle and produce that grace our tables and the plants and trees that adorn our yards.

How about the sanitation industry? Who thanks the garbage collectors and the people who treat waste water? Who recognizes the recyclers? When do they get flowers, cards or a free meal? I bet nobody ever gives them a day spa package. But why not? After endlessly unloading stinky garbage cans into a truck, they certainly deserve something!

Pity the delivery people, crammed in a vehicle season after season. They have to endure the cold in winter and the heat in summer. And yet they bring pizzas, bouquets and packages to millions of front doors day after day, braving irate homeowners and mad dogs on their appointed rounds. I think their recognition day should include water spritzers and pepper spray. Food, too, of course! Any celebration has to include food; chocolate is always good.

Guides at historic sites; flaggers who guide airplanes up to the terminal; individuals who make public service announcements; morticians; Salvation Army bell ringers; waiters and waitresses (especially when they serve customers who think tipping is a crime); proctologists. . . There’s a long list of professions that deserve recognition, but until an act of legislation brings their industry to nationwide recognition, they are out of luck.

What are we waiting for? Why not issue a referendum on the next ballot? We can nominate the professions we think deserve to be recognized. It certainly can’t hurt, and might even help!