Why do bad things happen to food people?

As of this writing, the demographic in which coronavirus is spreading the fastest is the ages of 20 to 29. Granted, these people are characterized by a great amount of freedom and mobility, a low concern for getting sick, and a tendency to visit beaches, bars, and protests in large numbers. But many in this age bracket also work in restaurants and grocery stores; these are our food people.

This makes them doubly vulnerable. Grocery stores are essential businesses and will remain open no matter what level of quarantine the government imposes. Grocery store clerks and stockers will go to work. They will interact with the public. And they will go to work sick for fear of losing their jobs. On the other hand, restaurant employment is very tenuous right now. Even with take-out and delivery, restaurants are hurting for business. Some servers and cooks are getting laid off while others are forced to have direct interaction with the public, up to and including taking away and washing possibly-contaminated dishes and utensils.

Unlike writers and website editors who can sit in their home offices all nice and sequestered, occasionally ordering groceries online and then sending our teenagers to pick them up, grocery store clerks and stockers and restaurant servers and food-preparers have to brave the wilds of the unwashed, unmasked public.

What can we do? Be kind. Wash your hands. Wear a mask if the establishment and/or government requires it. Don't be a pill. Bad things can happen to anybody—none of us are "good" enough to escape it. But we should do what we can to make sure our food people are safe.

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