I hurt for our leaderless America

I’m a very simple person. I’m a delivery worker. My last two jobs, in management, just weren’t working out. It wasn’t my goal to be a delivery person for Amazon, but somehow we get to where we are in life. Since the coronavirus has hit us all, for the first time I have become very grateful to have this job. I can see value in it that I didn’t see when I applied just four months ago. I think to myself I’m no one special, but right now I’m in real pain for my country. I don’t even know what to do, but I have to do something. So here I am writing to my hometown newspaper.

The coronavirus has been devastating to Americans and the world. It’s Mother Nature vs. the humans. And yet, in this country, for some reason, things are horribly political. It’s as sickening as the virus, if you ask me. I feel like I am watching the death of America in slow motion. It’s happening before our very eyes.

Why do we, by far, have the most deaths of all the countries in the world at a rate that is in the Top 10 of major countries? We’re America. We’re supposed to be the best. The next closest country doesn’t have half the deaths we have. And this is happening with a lot of people doing social distancing.

Most of all, I feel like the message is that all Americans are on their own. Luckily, we have many great individuals helping each other out in our communities. But where are we going with this coronavirus? We’re going back to work, but we’re not going back to work. Do we need to be tested, or not? And there are so many different tests I have no idea where to begin. We’re social distancing, but do we wear gloves, or not? Can we social distance and go back to restaurants? If nothing else, I want to go out to eat.

There’s no leadership from above. Just politics. I want a leader who can say that things are bad, but we have a plan and that the plan may change as we learn more about the virus, but we’re going to stay together and get better a little bit every single day. We are getting this message in some states, but not as a nation. Not as Americans. A lot of people are scared to go out and work, and I can’t blame them. We need one clear message for what we should do. Citizens need a leader with a clear message.

I grew up with my grandparents as members of the World War II generation. They never, ever talked about themselves or their selfish interests. It was always about me and the others in the family and being good to neighbors. What happened to the greater good? I used to hear this term growing up, but it has disappeared from the American vocabulary.

I think every day about what I do and whether it is good for my neighbors and my country. I fail a lot at this, but I always try to think this way and help us all out as much as I can in my small role. I know I can’t succeed on my own. I need everyone to do well, and I believe everyone needs one another to do well in life. We all just want to be happy and at peace. We need a leader to guide us right now. One message, and one direction to follow.

Kenneth Strong lives in Levittown.