Sympathy

 As we go into the 13th month of lockdown, a look at the people I feel sorry for:

The people who have had to deal with the public this whole time (I, luckily, only had to do it for two months, since I retired in May of last year)

Teachers who have had to work out some way to have effective instruction in ways they were never trained for (and I have to wonder how instrumental music teachers have made it work)

Students who have had to learn to cope with all the things that can go wrong in an on-line environment and somehow still learn other new things

Parents who have had to work from home while simultaneously helping their children with on-line school

(And this one my be worse than the last) Parents who have had to work outside the home while their children struggle with on-line school

Clergy who have spend this time trying to minister to congregations they see only on computer screens, if at all. (I especially sympathize with the rector in my own parish, who took over in November and three months later was faced with pandemic and lockdown, long before she had gotten to know most of her parishioners by face, let alone by name.)

There are many more, but those are the ones that come immediately to mind.