By Lynn James
Special to NKyTribune
Stay safe.
It was a long, stressful week. This past Friday, I started my two-week furlough from my job in Covington. We have been temporarily closed to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. I ended the day by running a few essential errands on my way home.
It was not business as usual.
“Stay Safe,” I wished the bank teller as I was leaving the drive-through window. I could have gone in the bank like I normally do. But should I? Was the lobby even open? I wasn’t sure. Just to be safe, for the teller and me, I used the drive-through.
Stay Safe. I even wished this to the clerk after I paid my cell phone bill. We awkwardly kept our distance from each other while I was trying to figure out how to pay him without getting too close. So different than past months when we would strike up a conversation and enjoy seeing each other again. I paid 2 months ahead, just to be safe. Never know what will be going on a month or two from now. Could be better; could be worse.
Stay Safe. I first heard that phrase about 5 years ago at the Erlanger Firehouse after visiting the Fire Marshal, Firefighters, and EMTs. It’s their way of wishing you well. On subsequent visits, they would say it whenever I left. At the time, it was an odd phrase for me. Why would I think I wasn’t safe? I didn’t face any danger during my day, nothing out of the ordinary. I wasn’t expecting anything to harm me.
Strange as it sounded, I understood what it meant – for them.
Can you imagine going to work each day and knowing it is a possibility – a really valid possibility – that you may be injured that day and your life may be dramatically changed for the worse? I could not. At least not then.
Back then, I started wishing my firefighter friends well with that phrase – Stay Safe – just like they wished me. I had learned it was true for them with the dangerous situations they face every day. The same is true for other first responders who are here to help and protect us.
As I completed my last errand, I saw an on-duty Fort Mitchell police officer waiting for his carry-out dinner at the shop next store. He stood a safe distance away from the waitress. When I stepped into the doorway, I kept a safe distance away from him. I wished him well and asked him to be doubly safe since he was dealing not only with the crime and danger on the streets but the danger of the virus. He faces more of the danger of the virus especially because those he interacts with could be carrying the virus whether they showed symptoms or not. And how can you keep six feet away from someone you are helping or subduing?
He told me about his third concern – his 11th-month-old baby at home with under-developed lungs. He and his wife have a plan and a routine to keep their baby safe. He told me that with a smile on his face confident they could keep their baby well.
“Stay Safe,” I wished him. Stay very Safe.
Now the phrase which seemed so strange to me five years ago has very quickly become my parting phrase to everyone I see these days, not just first responders.
Now with the virus in our community. Now with all of us keeping 6 feet apart. Now it’s true for everyone.
So Stay Safe!
And just as important, Stay Strong!
Lynn James is a lifelong resident of Northern Kentucky and has lived in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties. She enjoys living and observing real life with real people.
