I have a differently-abled daughter whose thumb is connected directly to her heart.
It’s a bit of an unusual tie, actually, as her thumb — a characteristic of Mosaic Down syndrome — is rather short, while her heart (also a characteristic of Down syndrome) is larger than life itself.
When Anna gives you a thumb's up, it isn’t simply a physical gesture or a means of communication: it’s a statement. A truth.
From something as simple as responding to your question on how her Starbucks mocha-frappa-something is, to her response to "How was your day?" the thumb's up is rock solid. It means something.
Anna is very well spoken, but the thumb's up often says more than enough. It’s an approval.
The other day, we left Tim Hortons and Anna was sipping on a Creamy Chill and I asked her how it was.
As usual, she peered over her purple-rimmed glasses with her blue eyes, and she slipped her left thumb up. As she was about to take another sip, she offered, in a joyfully high-tone “best drink ever.”
As a premise for this little letter, I think that perhaps we should make more of this little gesture. Perhaps it should become the pandemic sign: a message of solidarity to one another, and a gesture of appreciation for one another.
Perhaps that’s bit lofty, but I think there’s still something in it.
Not long after leaving Tim’s we drove into road construction. At 26 C raw temperature, I wondered what it feel like to be standing beside an already overheated mechanical creature — that was boiling and laying down hot-as-heck asphalt — holding a traffic sign. You could see the heat waves rising off the new pavement.
I know not everyone is going to literally give a thumb's up to a politician or a road worker, but I think its high-time to express some appreciation for what’s going on around us, and to start to shift the critical mass to the positive.
The traffic was a combination of heavy trucks and rollers trying to get a job done, overly cautious drivers trying to keep themselves and everyone around them safe, frantic got-to-get-nowhere-now drivers honking and tailgating the vehicle in front of them and a flagperson trying to keep the whole vehicular carnival moving without harm.
She deserved a thumb's up. And so did the guy walking along behind the asphalt burner with a shovel, scraping up pavement remnants to ensure our road was smooth.
On radio, I was listening to a pandemic update. I don’t know about you — I’m not really a politics enthusiast — but listening to former premier Dwight Ball, Health Minister Dr. John Haggie and provincial Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald talk is reassuring. They aren’t patching pavement every day — they are in the business of saving lives. Ball, in my opinion, was proving that politicians still had hearts. Haggie was proving politicians had the correct knowledge (and a funny bone), and could answer questions directly and honestly. And Fitzgerald was making society feel like government had an educated and well thought-out plan.
In a crisis like no other, these three people were at the helm of the ship on uncertain seas, and they were making many of us feel like they knew the course to follow. In fact, they were proving it.
That deserves a thumb's up.
Just before home, we stopped to grab something for supper. The checkout line was winding half way back through the store. The clerk was a young man smiling and being accommodating — behind plexiglass, behind a mask, a spray bottle of sanitizer in one hand.
Dealing with the public is no picnic on the best of days, but now this kid had to juggle a mixture of pandemic-scared buyers as well as pandemic deniers. One lady was upset because her coupon wasn’t working and one gentleman objected to the lack of checkout staff.
That clerk deserves a thumb's up.
I know not everyone is going to literally give a thumb's up to a politician or a road worker, but I think its high-time to express some appreciation for what’s going on around us, and to start to shift the critical mass to the positive.
Whether that’s a thank you to Dwight Ball for caring about people, or to the flagperson for enduring our impatience, we need to bolster the positive, start spotlighting the encouraging.
COVID-19 news is heavy, but it shouldn’t be an anchor.
Our collective mental health needs more outwardly optimistic people, willing to openly express positive sentiments to one another.
Simply put, we will only eradicate the moss if we tend more to the grass.
Jeff Hutchings,
Conception Bay South
