March 16, 2020 Social Distancing

Social Distancing
I hear this phrase and it brings others to mind.”Marginalizing “ No Physical hugging, kissing or hand shakes. Eye contact communication only.
This brings an interesting dilemma to mind. Blind, hearing impaired, physically challenged and mentally challenged can’t follow the rules. As a blind individual, I locate a speaker by touching them. Now, I must locate them by hearing. Not easy with hearing aids.
I can no longer take an offered elbow to give me a occasional hand.
In stores, I have noted hoarding of cleaning supplies, toilet paper and other paper items. It is hard to believe that all of these people ran out of such supplies at the same time. I can only hope that some of the items eventually end up in a food bank. I wonder what the marginal persons are using in the interim.
When we are shopping and keeping that social distance, remember to look around you for the senior citizen that may need a hand getting that package of paper from the top shelf. Look for the blind person that is confused with the empty shelves. Look for the person on the street that asked for change.
We as a nation, are only as strong as our marginal members. We will be judged not by what we have but how we care.