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One thing I have learned in my lifetime is the that no one is insignificant.

I believe every person on Earth is here to be there for somebody else.

During the past two months, there has been a lot of talk about the different professions of people during this coronavirus pandemic. All of the professions mentioned were very deserving of the praise they received.

However, as a society, there is a group of people who never seem to get any amount of praise, and that is our trash collectors or even the drivers of garbage trucks.

With so many people staying home now, I can just imagine how much more difficult their jobs have become.

People are cooking more at home and using more products.

Unfortunately, the ratio of those people who recycle to those who do not is much greater.

Added to that fact, I am sure, since people have more time to go through their closets and garages and are getting rid of clutter, there has to be more garbage being put out that needs to be collected.

What kind of mess would our world be in without our garbage collectors? I shudder when I think of how easy it would be to catch the coronavirus through the collection of garbage. Look how many households they become involved with on a daily basis and the germs with each pickup.

I am thankful for those who gather the garbage in my neighborhood. They are always so nice, and smile and wave if I happen to be outside when they pick up our garbage.

I have seen clerks in stores who do not show as much customer appreciation at times and do not seem happy that they have a job.

I have never seen that with garbage collectors. They always seem to enjoy their jobs.

Today, I want to honor all the trash collectors across our country. I can not imagine our world without them.

There are a lot of quotes about garbage. I love this one by Albert Einstein: “I speak to everyone the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” That is the way it should be in our world.

Sometime, in the near future, wave and smile or say, “Thank you,” to a garbage collector. They are so significant in our world.

Sue Staton is a Clark County native. She is a wife, mother and grandmother who is active in her church, First United Methodist Church, and her homemakers group, Towne and Country Homemakers.