Hero with a Wrench

I grew up at a time in history where one of the most famous athletes ever to play organized sports was in uniform. His name was Bo Jackson, he was a physical freak, and he had risen to almost mythical status in the state of Alabama even before the world took notice. He could do things on a football field and a baseball diamond that seemed to defy reality. I was hooked, and I’d watch his highlights with my jaw on the floor dreaming of being able to do the same.  

My summers were spent with a group of neighborhood boys playing pad-less tackle football pretending to be Bo Jackson and Walter Payton when we broke through a hole. Every pass was Joe Montana to Jerry Rice. Every pick-up basketball game was Jordan vs. Magic. These athletes seemed larger than life, even superhuman when they would deliver the clutch buzzer-beater to win the championship. They were our heroes.

All societies have heroes held up as the standard of physical strength, beauty, wealth, power, and popularity that everyone else strives to attain. And when I say that, what names come to mind? If it’s the same list most people would rattle off, influencers with the largest Instagram followers and largest paychecks, I think we need to reconsider our standard. Isn’t using the word HERO really a misnomer when referring to most athletes, actors, and musicians? What have they done that’s REALLY heroic?

he·ro
/ˈhirō/ noun
1. A person admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.

Okay, maybe in one sense of the word they’ll fit, but what’s abundantly clear right now is that this world needs heroes of courage and skill, not just talent and notoriety. Sure, it takes some courage to be the guy carrying the football, charging forward as 11 angry monsters try to stop you. It takes courage to step out onto a stage and sing with 40,000 fans watching. But if I was being held at gunpoint, I would much rather have a highly trained cop at my side than Bo Jackson or Lebron James. If I was choking on my food, I’d be much happier to see a registered nurse heading my way than Lady Gaga wearing her meat dress. When the situation gets more important, so do the people. Society is shifting again, and we need our heroes to be useful, not just entertaining.

No team sports will be played for the foreseeable future, no concerts or Olympics. Even the movie theaters are shut down with no summer blockbusters planned. Our country has a whole list of celebrity “heroes,” placed on pedestals just a few weeks ago, who are now looking just as average as everyone else, locked away in their homes wondering who’s coming to help them. So, in a time like this who are we reminded are the real heroes?

I have a friend who’s a doctor. In between working with his sick patients and an overflowing hospital he stays up late to write daily blogs informing people about what he’s hearing in the medical community and how they can best protect themselves. Hero.

I heard about a nurse who was placed into a COVID-19 care clinic and had to rent a trailer to live in separated from her family because of the danger of bringing home contamination. Hero.

You see, everyone probably considers their job to be “essential,” if for nothing else other than paying their own bills, but some people often at serious risk to themselves, step forward at times like this. Duty calls and they simply can’t sit this pandemic out like the government requires for everyone else.

Medical professionals, police officers, firefighters, military, and essential service contractors like you don’t have the option of working remotely and Skyping in from the safety of your home. You are the real heroes this country (and others around the world) are relying on right now to keep things going.

So, I want to say something you don’t hear nearly enough: THANK YOU.

If it breaks, floods, shorts, or explodes, someone’s got to come fix it. And as I’ve said many times in conversations with contractors over the last couple of weeks, home emergencies don’t care about quarantines.

Thank you for continuing to serve your friends and neighbors in this time of uncertainty. Thank you for caring. Thank you for taking the risk and showing true courage when people need you. We’ll get through this together and be stronger on the other side for it. I hope that America is getting a lasting reminder of who really keeps the country up and running. It’s rarely the ones who stand in the spotlight and get asked for their autograph. It’s the thousands who’s names we’ll never know who continue to lace up their boots and clock in each and every day, regardless of how dirty or dangerous the job might be.

When all this is said and done, I still doubt kids will pretend to be the plumber or A/C man in their backyard or have posters of you on their wall, but we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the blue collar men and women who are helping us to keep some sense of normalcy.

Let’s be clear. I’m not out cleaning anyone’s dirty air filters or on my hands and knees sliding through a crawlspace, but Hudson,Ink is doing our part to continue serving you during this craziness as well. It’s tough to know exactly what to do right now, but remember this: The worst option is to go silent.

Make sure your homeowners know you’re still ready and willing to serve and are taking all the necessary steps to leave their homes healthier than when you arrived. We’re all in this together, and we’ll get through it together.

If you’d like to see our specially designed emails, social posts, mailers, etc., that you can use to reassure homeowners in your area and get some leads during an uncertain time, click here.