After three weeks of working from home, isolating myself from the world, I had to venture off my little farm to get some supplies for the ponies and the new puppy. Among the types of businesses deemed essential are farm and ranch supply stores. They are important. Spring is upon us and farmers are already preparing fields for planting. They can’t hesitate or there won’t be food this year. The seasons wait for no one and nothing.

The store had lots of notifications on the front doors about new hours and social distancing. There were stands demonstrating how far apart people should be while waiting in line. There were very few customers, yet plenty of helpful clerks. They were there to serve, doing it willingly in the face of a epidemic. I won’t soon forget that they worked in potential danger.

Companies are doing the best they can, struggling to stay open and pay their employees, or shuttering their doors when they have to, hoping that they can make it until they are able to reopen. Some businesses are really stepping up, using their funds to ensure that employees are taken care of and customers are helped. My internet provider is giving people expanded entertainment for free. Restaurants are cooking food for free. Employers that have shut down are still paying their employees.

These companies that are being good citizens during a difficult time are making an impression. They are telling us that they care about us. We are going to remember their commitment to our communities. The businesses that are rigidly inflexible, that price gouge, or that make our lives more difficult are going to be remembered, too. We are going to remember that we no longer want to do business with them.

The front line workers at grocery stores, pharmacies, take-out restaurants, hardware stores, farms, and feed & seeds usually aren’t the highest paid employees. Yet, they are willing to brave this pandemic to serve our communities. These employers are keeping their stores open even if sales are precipitously down. I don’t have to worry that I won’t have food or that my animals’ feed will run out. That’s a bright spot in all of this.