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Taking the risk
Author: TriSec    Date: 04/05/2020 22:39:44

Your Loyal TriSec has reached a cataclysmic decision.


As you all know, the tourism industry is currently dead.

Old Town Trolley tours gave our last tours for paying guests back on March 16.

We shut down; laid off ALL our hourly employees, and we've been trying to deadstick to some kind of landing with just the Operations team as custodians; there's just 5 of us "working" routinely to monitor emails, phones, and manage the few things we are able to do remotely.

But not many days after we shut down, the City of Boston reached out to us to see if any of our vehicles might be available to help with emergency re-location of Boston's homeless shelter population.

Suffolk University has offered up their currently empty dorms as temporary housing for many persons in Boston's multiple homeless shelters. You might be familiar with the largest and best-known of these shelters, the Pine Street Inn.

They have a handful of vans available, but they are relocating hundreds of persons from their shelters to this temporary housing, and they begged us for help.

Yesterday, I went in to the office as the staff photographer. We measured out our vehicles and blocked off all the seats at six-foot distance.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/92084323_10158650325199505_4334287373702529024_o.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_sid=e007fa&_nc_ohc=nwecMqEgYsYAX-lh7zA&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=4fd4d57316cdf96f72a30dc962d9ebcb&oe=5EB0B646


Over a period of about six hours, we ran repeated shuttles back and forth from a shelter location to the dorm building. I had initially deferred; Javi has asthma, and I am a direct link to two persons of high-risk, both Papa Trisec and my Mother-in-Law, both over 85 and with medical issues.

Remaining separated from the group, I took some photos that will be published in our in-house company magazine, called "The Nation's Storyteller", and quite possibly for a story in the Boston Globe.

But it felt like so little.

In many ways, it was our resident "Gen-Zer" that has taken the lead on this. Javier came back from college on March 24th or so. Before he even came back, his High School employer called him to see if he wanted to work. As it turns out, Javi's former position is considered essential.

He's worked at a local nursing home - he is in the food service department and spent his senior year as a server in their dining room. Javi decided to return to work and provide this necessary service to the nursing home residents, of course with greatly modified practice and protections.

He's putting himself directly in harm's way every day he goes to work. Seriously - you could look up what's happening to several nursing homes here in Massachusetts. They are truly Ground Zero for the coronavirus in this Commonwealth. Dozens of people are dying every day despite our best efforts.

I can't, in good conscience, sit at home and be 'safe' while my own offspring is on the front lines.

So, later this week, I hope to be back in the driver's seat and helping those in a worse situation than myself. We've taken as many precautions as we can. Here is our Operations Manager "Devilin" (stage name only) after delivering some displaced persons to their now place of refuge.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/92228714_10158650317824505_8787663835356987392_o.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=on7lchhdhYoAX8BgoZy&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=6f22d087358eec2fa7d28a5553373cc2&oe=5EB1C96D


This is in line with my lifetime worldview. You may be familiar with the Boy Scout Oath. In it, there are said to be three "duties", that is, "Duty to God and Country", "Duty to Others" and "Duty to Self".

My longtime friend from home and I have had many scholarly debates on which is the most important, and why. While he believes "Duty to Self" is the most important, for all of my adult life, I have always believed "Duty to Others" is the most important - to my way of thinking, there is no higher calling than service to your fellow man.

This will probably make changes in my personal life. Mrs. TriSec will now be exposed to two different vectors on a daily basis. We'll take the necessary precautions in our home, but now two of us in this household are doing our best to help other people.

I don't expect to get sick and die; of course nobody does. But I can't sit idly by in this, our most desperate hour.



 
 
 

6 comments (Latest Comment: 04/07/2020 17:23:04 by shelaghc)
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