“It's forecast to be 112 degrees – what do you even do on a day like that?” 11-year-old Velma Trent said to her father, Sgt. Vincent Trent.
“When the temperature gets that high, and you don't have to do anything, you don't,” Sgt. Trent said.
“Didn't you have to fight in Iraq in the summers like this?” she said.
“All summer, 120 degrees and above for average high temperature, and that was in the shade,” Sgt. Trent said. “That is why I said, if you don't have to do anything, you don't.”
Velma hugged her father tightly.
“Thank you for defending the country and all good things abroad, so I don't have to,” she said.
“You're welcome, Velma,” he said gently. “I'm retired now, so all we have to do is figure out what not to do tomorrow. I'm going to barbecue tonight, and Mom is going to make a big salad, so, tomorrow, we'll have salad with mixed grill meats on top, and just relax.”
“What about carbonator work – tomorrow is our usual day.”
“Capt. Ludlow and I have decided to cancel all of that – we've already talked with our partners, and it's too much to have people out here dealing with Covid-19 risk on top of the heat. Masks are really uncomfortable in the heat, and people will be having to take them off to drink more water – or, not take them off, get dehydrated, and then bad things start to happen. 112-degree heat, all by itself, can kill you, and for southern Virginia, that's extreme. Again: if you don't have to do anything, you don't, and that includes a business you own and control.”
“So,” Velma said, “the point of owning and controlling a business is … to treat your workers right and keep them out of dangerous situations?”
“If you do it right,” Sgt. Trent said. “We can always make more money, but God only makes one of everybody, so we don't risk lives for money any more than is necessary. Covid-19 is going to be with us for a while, and we gotta work anyway – so that's necessary – but beyond that, forget it. Folks can stay home, breathe their own air, and stay cool and alive. That's how we do it, Velma.”
Sgt. Trent has good advice “When the temperature gets that high, and you don't have to do anything, you don't”
Yes, indeed ... but you already know somebody in the Ludlow home is planning on doing way too much ... https://peakd.com/@deeanndmathews/day-1602-5-minute-freewrite-continuation-friday-prompt-high-temperature