Everyday ethics: Thank you for your service

“Thank you for your service.”

The grocery store cashier thanked the man in front of me. He was wearing a veteran’s hat.

While it is right to thank those who serve in the military, it is also appropriate to thank those who serve us in many other ways. I thought about them and realized how seldom I had thanked any for their services. It was as if they were such an integral part of my life, I had not noticed their presence, though if one of them forgot me, I would have realized it.

There is a vast, usually overlooked group of people who help each one of us every day. They often go unnoticed but provide the glue of everyday life, without which our corner of the world might become unhinged. They are part of what I would call the web of life that serves and protects us.

I paused this morning to think about and thank the army of service workers who had helped me recently. The doctors and nurses who helped me during surgery or emergency care, the postal workers who brought my mail, the woman who delivers the morning newspaper and the editors and writers who produce it — each of whom and many more make my life easier.

And there are many others who serve others and are seldom thanked — counselors and social workers, neighbors, home care and nursing home assistants, teachers, fire and police, politicians who serve us and not just themselves, and others you can name. And, of course, our family members who offer support so often that we often forget to thank them. And how could I forget our animal companions who lend support when we need it.

They are the ones who support us in ways only we know.

Try an experiment — make a list of all those people who provide you services, and thank them.

They are not just working to serve themselves but you and others. They are the heroes and heroines of our corners of the world.

The network of support that surrounds us is the key to healthy families, communities and even national life. When one part of that network fails, all parts suffer. When all are carrying out their chosen duties, everyone profits.

When I think of the web of life, I remember the words attributed to Chief Seattle, a Suquamish chief who lived on the islands of the Puget Sound. His now famous speech was believed to have been given in 1854. There are different versions of it, but the most famous words remain in a letter:

“Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people….

“Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.

“This we know: the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself….”

John C. Morgan is an author and former teacher. His columns appear weekly at www.readingeagle.com