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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
September 30,2021
From the Staff
Here’s to all the
hard workers
By Dan Pool, Editor
I was having a discussion with a public of
ficial recently who described someone as “a
hard worker.” I made the counter-observation
that is not any unusual distinction at the time
of a lingering pandemic, booming economy
and crippling labor shortage.
I agree that putting in an effort noticeably
above average is a notable distinction which
we should all aspire to. But it seems at this
time, hard workers abound. Most people you
talk to are busting their humps more than
ever before.
With the combination of few workers and
high demand, even people who aren’t natu
rally inclined to hard work are forced into it.
Just to get by, keep the doors open and
handle the calls, more of us are working
longer hours, putting off vacations and who
even remembers only working 40 hours a
week?
Cell phones, especially those with e-mail,
means some of us respond to business needs
around the clock.
I would argue that the average person
today is more busy than the average people
has been in the past 50 years.
The pandemic fooled everyone economi
cally; not only did it NOT derail our econ
omy, it threw it into hyperdrive. The booming
stock market, through-the-ceiling home
prices and desperate measures companies are
using to attract more employees paint the pic
ture of a culture of busy.
You see certain groups publicly lauded for
their efforts and rightfully so. A lot of people
have put in Herculean efforts to keep this na
tion moving along. But really the praise
should extend to everyone who works hard.
So here’s to most everyone:
Construction guys are working more
hours than ever before finishing homes and
starting new ones. From foundation guys to
roofers, these guys are driving our north
Georgia economy.
Healthcare workers - now they are really
overworked, underappreciated and stressed
to the max with COVID. And this certainly
includes people in care homes.
Public Safety/Law Enforcement - Ambu-
lance/EMS fall into the same overworked,
COVID issues. Law enforcement has been
short-handed for years and just hoping there
will be backup when it’s needed.
Teachers - Swamped dealing with some
students at home and in the classroom, with
the new education technology not proving to
be all that great.
Restaurant workers - There are signs in
the windows of some eateries apologizing for
the poor service before you get in the door.
The managers can’t find anyone to hire, leav
ing those manning the buffet lines to deal
with hungry and angry customers.
Convenience store workers - Talk about
front line of the pandemic. They may not get
a lot of praise, but when you need a Kit Kat,
Coke and gas at 10 p.m. be glad someone is
there.
Farmers - Always been undervalued and
no one is going to accuse a farmer of not
being hard working.
Truck drivers - Massive shortage there,
leaving the others to drive as long as legally
possible to try to maintain the supply lines. It
has gotten so bad in England that they are
giving emergency visas to foreigners with
commercial driving experience.
School bus drivers - All school systems
rely heavily on their drivers and substitutes,
plus coaches and mechanics to fill gaps, as
they have trouble hiring enough drivers. One
way or the other, kids have to get to school.
The military - Chronically underpaid and
stretched too thin. Been a national problem
for decades.
Tech billionaires? Surely they are sitting
back taking it easy. Nope, according to news
stories they put all kinds of weird gyms,
catered meals and playgrounds for grown
ups in their headquarters so their workers can
stay for even longer periods of time.
Signing bonuses are now common for
even the most entry level job, as there are not
enough workers to go around (but that is an
other subject entirely and a complicated one).
This also means that new help is not likely
on the way.
So to all those, regardless of what the job
is, who are putting in long, tough hours every
week. Thank You.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Ponderings of a Simple Man
By Caleb Smith
Heart at Work,
Hardly Working
My last yearly physical
was a total disaster. Less than
five minutes in, the tiny room
was filled with wailing, tears,
yelling, and stark refusal that
I had let myself get into the
shape I was in. Which,
frankly, I felt was an unpro
fessional and childish way
for a doctor to act.
‘It’s your heart,’ the doctor
said, vein pulsating on the
side of his head. ‘If you don’t
make real changes soon, I
cannot be held responsible
for your health.’
‘So what,’ I asked, casu
ally chewing on one of my
pocket Slim-Jims, ‘You need
to give me a pill or some
thing?’
His eye twitched as he
took a deep, calming breathe,
‘I’m going to say this once
and only once,’ he said
calmly. ‘Give up the fatty
foods, anything deep fried is
off the list. Eat more greens
and baked meat, and for
heaven’s sake, get active. It’s
not normal for a man to
spend his entire weekend in
his armchair.’
I laughed as I fished in my
pocket for another Slim-Jim,
‘That’s funny doc, you
should have been a come
dian. Seriously though, an
other pill?’
After reasserting that he
was deadly serious, emphasis
on DEADLY, and that he
wasn’t joking, there was even
more wailing and crying.
Which, he advised me, was
highly unprofessional and
childish on my part.
It would have been so bad
if my wife hadn’t been there.
Ever since she found out I
was lying about my choles
terol she insists on being in
every doctor’s appointment.
Which was unfair, it’s not
like I would have LIED to
her about my most recent
heart news — I just wouldn’t
have told her.
So once again I got to play
the weight loss game. It’s a
game we play after every
physical and it usually only
lasts a few months. But this
time it was worse. This time
she bought a treadmill. And
she made me USE it.
The monster.
I’ll never forget my first
day. My legs were cramping,
lungs burning with exertion
as sweat dripped from my
chins. If just standing up was
that hard, I couldn’t imagine
actually using the blasted
contraption.
After about 30 minutes of
grueling torture, I finally shut
the devil machine off. I col
lapsed onto the floor in a
puddle of mingled tears and
sweat. I raised one trembling
hand to check the pedometer
built into my watch to see
how far I had gone, it felt like
miles. The numbers blinked
back at me, taunting me.
One half mile.
Shaking, trying not to
vomit, I slowly began pulling
myself back to my armchair
and my waiting for Cheetos.
Just 24 hours until I had to do
it all over again.
[Caleb Smith is a long
time, award-winning, colum
nist for the Progress.]
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI
LOW
RAIN
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21
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(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia. 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PICKENS COUNTY
PROGRESS, 94 N. Main St., Jasper, GA 30143.
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#Ii)e H>cl)00l
D OFFICIALLY FALL ... Tint TO freak
Out the CHRistMaS DECORATIONS.
w/ *
Other Voices
Longing For Home
By Chris Feldt
I had been living in
Louisiana for over three
years when I began missing
the forests, streams and
mountains. There are two
seasons there, hot and hotter.
There is water there; brack
ish, dark-colored saltwater
mixed with limited fresh
water.
The lakes there are shal
low and filled with the debris
of hurricanes past. The tem
peratures in winters never got
below the 30s and I’d only
ever seen snow there for two
days. There, I was either sur
rounded by city, swamp or
flatlands. Even the recre
ational areas were marshes.
For those of us that come
from northern states (I’m
from Michigan originally),
there’s a lot missing. Gone
were the deciduous trees that
changed their colors vividly.
There you’ll find an occa
sional yellow or brown, but
there was never a crimson to
be found. And there’s no fall
temperatures either except
briefly in the winter weeks.
Spring is non-existent too.
Growing up in the Great
Lakes you get used to being
A an old still site found by the author on one of his ram
bles around the woods of north Georgia, near a creek but
in the middle of nowhere.
Chris Feldt moved to Georgia in No
vember of 2018 with his lovely wife and
two-year-old daughter. He has a pas
sion for history, writing and hiking. He
lives in Jasper and works in Bent Tree
as a member of the administration
staff.
an hour away from massive
bodies of fresh water. We had
the Gulf in Louisiana: which
was largely polluted, filled
with sharks and jellyfish.
Like Michigan, Jasper has
water that I can dive in with
out giving it a second
thought. North Georgia has
forests filled with trails that
meander through babbling
brooks, pine forests and Ver
million canopies. Jasper has
foothills and mountains, wa
terfalls and trails.
There are
freshwater bass
and trout. There
are fast moving
streams to kayak,
swim or wade
through. There are
four seasons that
change every cou
ple of months.
There’s a varied to
pography. Not so
in Louisiana.
Oh, how I longed
for our variations
in nature, color and
temperature. I
missed it all im
mensely. I was
like Bilbo Baggins,
who expressed a
similar sentiment in the Fel
lowship of the Ring. “I want
to see mountains again, Gan-
dalf, mountains, and then
find somewhere where I can
rest. In peace and quiet, with
out a lot of relatives prying
around, and a string of con
founded visitors hanging on
the bell. I might find some
where where I can finish my
book. I have thought of a nice
ending for it: and he lived
happily ever after to the end
of his days.”
Nature has a profound ef
fect upon me. And without
her familiar settings, I have
little else to offer such
respite.
As an introvert there is
solace found where people
are not. Our congregation is
found in nature. Our com
munion is found while walk
ing through the empty halls
of the forest, the isolated
beaches of the lakes, and the
forgotten trails of the moun
tains.
Our spiritual release is
found where people rarely
tread. Jasper is its own slice
of Heaven.
PmoT'btA 15 SUPPORTS
YOUR COUNTRY ALL THE
TIrAE ,and Your
Government
WHEN IT DESERVES
T.
MARK TWAIN!