The other day, as I was sitting in a dentist’s chair having my teeth cleaned, it reminded me of the reality that there are some jobs that physically have to be done by people. There are jobs that cannot be done at home using only a computer and an internet connection.

It is not just dental work; it is most medical work. Patients have to be seen; the sick have to be taken care of. As to teaching, effective education requires that teachers be in a classroom. In the winter, snowplows actually must be operated by snowplow drivers, etc.

As to manufacturing, you can’t produce truck engines (think Cummins) without a work force doing it. If you go out to eat, it requires a cook and a waitress. Carpenters are required to build a house. A bridge cannot be rebuilt without the construction workers to do it. And, yes, despite automation, human beings actually have to be involved when cows are being milked.

Not everything can be done by computer. There is a lot that can’t be done by just asking “Siri” or “Alexa” to do it.

The band Alabama has a song which goes right to this point titled “Forty Hour Week For A Livin’.” Here is one verse from those lyrics:

“This is for the one who drives the big rig

Up and down the road

Or the one out in the warehouse

Bringing in the load

Or the waitress, the mechanic

The policeman on patrol

For everyone who works behind the scenes

With a spirit you can’t replace with no machine.”

And then the song ends with this: “Hello America, let me thank you for your time.”

Sometimes it’s good to reflect on the human requirements that keep our society moving. All of this talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI} and more automation for everything sounds good…but there are tasks that can only be done by our fellow men and women. Even the orders taken and processed by AI, have to be delivered in a cardboard box by someone driving a van who takes the item ordered to the customer.

As to 40 hours a week, that is just a wish for many who are working to make ends meet. There are a lot of people working out there behind the scene, that can’t be replaced “with no machine.” We need to be mindful and grateful for that.

Hello, America…let me thank you for your time!

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.