On Wednesday October 13, the 33 miners were freed from their months long imprisonment below the surface of the earth. They were greeted as heroes, looking good in spite of their hardships. That night, I with Jo and Jose Diaz and Chinois restaurant co-owner Debby tasted 8 Chilean wines in a national online tasting event. A coincidence or divine timing since the tasting was set up weeks in advance. Good planning, for sure.
What I was struck with most, in the midst of these celebrations, was how the Chilean government was taking care of the miners, now and in the future. The miners were doing their job during the cave-in yet the government vowed to care for their health. Contrast that to our 911 first-responders, who doing their job rescuing others, have had to fight for health care and have it refused still almost ten years after the tragedy.
Where are US values to deny those people who showed up in the time of major crisis? How could they be denied help? We, a great nation, are put to shame by tiny Chile, a new great nation.