Among the many new phrases that have suddenly become common currency—“six feet,” “social distancing,” “flatten the curve”—“essential worker” is perhaps the most significant. The term acknowledges the fact that labor that might previously have been dismissed as low-skill is, in fact, crucial to society’s functioning, New York City is fueled by grocery store clerks and the families who run bodegas, by farmworkers and truck drivers and couriers. This has always been true, but it is particularly evident now.
