Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Kindness Is Strength

Our ability to manage and survive in this pandemic, along with the other things life throws our way, is largely dependent on the amount of care, empathy, and kindness we receive

Newsletters Manitoba Local 306

By Geoff Dueck Thiessen, Regional Director

Last year was a very tough year for many people, and for many reasons. Personally, my mother died in January 2020, and my 17-year-old son was diagnosed with lymphoma in July. Later, in August, I suffered a serious foot injury. All this in the context of a pandemic.

I also have much to be grateful for. I was able to be present during my mother’s last weeks, and we had a memorial service and beautiful family time without pandemic constraints. Many have not been so fortunate.

My son was successfully treated by a great team at Cancer Care. My foot has healed, thanks to my daughter’s very good first aid skills, and some competent stitching at the Grace Hospital.

And throughout all of this, our family has received well over 120 practical acts of kindness from our family and closest friends, to contractors working on our house plumbing, to employers with whom I also have to sort through conflict.

Acts of kindness matter. Kindness is strength.

Meeting with Local 306 members virtually over these past months, I have heard one consistent message. Our ability to manage and survive in this pandemic, along with the other things life throws our way, is largely dependent on the amount of care, empathy, and kindness we receive. Yes, people need job security, a dependable paycheck, and safe working conditions. They also need kindness.

One moving Local 306 story I’ve heard of is when educational assistants lost two paid working days in the same pay period. Some members were pushed to financial hardship during this time. Their colleagues came to the rescue with surprise cash gifts. Amazing!

Another great story is how one principal of a large school began the practice of checking in with every employee, in person, every day. Their team appreciated the care, and it gave them strength.

This pandemic has been somewhat different for each of us, but we have all experienced it together, and it has been difficult for everyone in some way. The opportunity here is for us—despite the physical distancing and the masks that we need to keep this virus at a reasonable level of contagion—to have a large-scale shared experience of kindness.

Let’s take that opportunity to grow in patience and empathy, and to tap into kindness!

Local 306 members photographed before the pandemic

Kindness Is Strength

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