I was watching videos of the aftermath of the flash floods in Nepal, and what stayed with me was not only the destruction itself, but the people working through it.
Rescuers searching for survivors and for bodies. People going into dark tunnels, narrow crevices and dangerous places where I honestly do not think I could make myself go. Then there are those working in morgues, dealing with the dead, identifying bodies, cleaning up, and handling the parts of a disaster that most of us would rather not even imagine.
It made me think about the different kinds of people among us.
In ordinary life, the people who stand out are often the ones who disappoint us. The unreliable ones. The people who avoid responsibility, leave work for others, or somehow disappear when something difficult needs to be done. Those are the people we notice because they frustrate us.
But then something terrible happens, and suddenly another kind of person becomes visible.
People who will crawl into dangerous places looking for someone they have never met. People who will keep searching when they are exhausted. People who will handle bodies so that another family can have an answer. People who are willing to do work that many of us could not stomach, physically or emotionally.
I do not think I could do it.
There must be a certain kind of person who can tolerate those things. Fear, confined spaces, blood, death, terrible smells, exhaustion, grief. Not everyone can. I certainly do not think I could.
And I am glad there are people who can.
Perhaps that is what struck me most. We can become cynical about people because the worst behaviour is often the most noticeable in everyday life. But there are so many decent, dependable people among us whom we may never notice at all until something goes terribly wrong.
We may never know their names. We may never meet them. On an ordinary day, we might pass these people in the street without giving them a second thought.
But when they are needed, they are there.
They go into the places most of us would be afraid to enter. They do the work most of us would struggle even to witness. They carry things the rest of us are fortunate not to have to carry.
And I am deeply grateful that there are people like this among us — the unsung heroes who deserve a standing ovation for the incredible work they do.