Tracey Grayzer
Written By: Tracey Grayzer
President, Impact Alamance
I don’t know about your family- but for ours, the last few months have brought a fair share of smiles and tears. Every day is a “corona-coaster” of emotions. It’s long been said that laughter is the best medicine and we’ve certainly turned to that to help manage that coaster. I have a group of friends that I text silly corona memes to and it helps to keep us connected and somewhat sane. In addition to humor, some of those memes have also been thoughtful. There’s one that really resonated with me. It was about why it’s important to wear a mask: for humility, kindness and community. Since we’re talking about having an Open and Safe economy, I wanted to expand on the thoughts expressed in that meme.
I’ve worked for Cone Health for more than 15 years. I have seen the incredible innovation, resilience and heart our health care team has displayed over the past few months as they have worked tirelessly to help people in our county who have contracted COVID-19. One reason I wear a mask is out of respect for my co-workers. Since COVID is spread through droplets- think coughs and sneezes- I wear a mask out of humility. I don’t know if I have the illness and really don’t want to spread it to others if I do have it, but don’t yet have symptoms.
I wear a mask out of kindness for others. I’m very active and in good health- but you never know the battles someone you encounter is facing. Does their child have cancer, is their dad at risk and they are his caretaker? I’m not sure, so I work to treat everyone with kindness by wearing my mask. For me, it’s part of that golden rule of treating others how I would like to be treated.
Finally, I wear a mask because I care greatly about our community. Alamance County has been my home for more than 20 years. I’ve invested a good part of my life into improving the health of our County. And, part of our overall health is a healthy economy. I want us to be open and safe- and wearing a mask is one of the best ways we can work together for that to happen.
It’s taken a few months, but research now backs this up. Recent articles in The Washington Post and Forbes, both cite research from the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. This research shows that wearing a face mask works and may be the biggest thing we can do to slow the spread of COVID-19. In addition to wearing a mask- we can also wait six feet to keep some social distance and wash our hands often for at least 20 seconds. These are the three w’s: wear, wash and wait.
While I’ve found plenty to keep me smiling over the past few months, the health of our community is no laughing matter. Please practice those three “w’s” and do your part to make sure Alamance County stays open and safe- our county depends on it.
We invite you to learn more about the Open & Safe Commitment and hope you will consider joining other local businesses in signing the pledge today. Together, we can work to make Alamance County stay Open & Safe.