Jeramey Jannene

Milwaukeeans To Be Thankful For in 2021

A special challenge for your Thanksgiving weekend.

By - Nov 24th, 2021 05:57 pm
Essentiall workers in 2020. Images from the Department of Public Works, MCTS and Jeramey Jannene.

Essential workers in 2020. Images from the Department of Public Works, MCTS and Jeramey Jannene.

This used to be a fun column to write. For three years, I got to shine a spotlight on Milwaukeeans doing great things in the community.

Then the pandemic changed everything. Last year we pivoted to recognizing the unsung hero of the pandemic, the essential worker.

A year later, something seems broken. Those essential workers still show up, but we aren’t treating them well.

Whether it’s berating the person who asks you to put on a mask, yelling at short-staffed restaurant workers or blaming someone for a late delivery, I’ve seen it all.

Maybe it’s pandemic exhaustion. Maybe it’s the fact that more than a year later people are still contesting a presidential election. Maybe it’s that Wisconsin ricocheted from the Rittenhouse verdict to the Waukesha parade tragedy in 72 hours.

Whatever it is, it’s left me feeling that we’re being pulled apart at the seams.

So while many families are returning to gathering for Thanksgiving and crowds will undoubtedly return to big-box stores, I have a challenge for you as you encounter others.

By the end of the weekend make sure five strangers know you value them. Whether it’s holding the door for someone, telling someone thank you, tipping a little extra or just saying hello, go that extra step.

This Thanksgiving let’s be thankful for each other, and act like it. We’ll be a better Milwaukee because of it.

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More about the Thanksgiving Series

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4 thoughts on “Milwaukeeans To Be Thankful For in 2021”

  1. Jeffjay60 says:

    We should learn that every worker is essential and deserves respect for what they do. Therefore, raise the minimum wage, provide healthcare for everyone and allow workers who wish to organize to do so without retaliation.

  2. Carolannbrill says:

    Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. So many of us have all we need and can be more community minded and show our thankfulness to all

  3. NieWiederKrieg says:

    According to this article, 2020’s heroes were the “essential workers” that put their lives on the line for us during the height of the COVID pandemic.

    In 2021, many of those same heroic “essential workers” are being fired from their jobs by Joe Biden for refusing to take a COVID shot.

    My prediction for 2022… Joe Biden will be forced to cancel his vaccine mandate in order to prevent the country from splitting apart over COVID shots.

    My 2024 prediction: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be kicked out of office as their approval rating plummets from 36% today down to 22% by Fall of 2024.

    And what am I thankful for? I’m thankful that Angela Merkel is stepping down and that Germany has just chosen a new left wing Progressive coalition government… Two million Germans are about to receive a 25% pay raise and Germany is about to legalize marijuana… America’s Wall Street owned media is now demonizing Germany and their new ant-war government….

  4. GodzillakingMKE says:

    Refusing to get the covid vaccine is like saying you are pissed that your grandparents took your rights away to get polio!

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