We’ve all been affected by COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019). Some have suffered an immense loss in terms of life or livelihood, or both. On behalf of all of us at the Boss Radio stations, we send our heartfelt condolences for your particular situation. As a media touchstone for so many people around the world, who have all been affected in some way, we share a responsibility with you to be good humans.

The first time I heard someone say, “be good humans,” was while listening to Brian Phelps on KLOS radio in Los Angeles. It was Brian’s sign off every morning on the Mark & Brian show, which lasted more than 25 years in LA. When I first heard that, it really hit home for me because, regardless of us being “all in this together,” we are supposed to be good humans.

We’re good humans when we respect others, regardless of their affiliations or theories. We’re good humans when we show compassion for those that have lost. We are good humans when we help others monetarily, having given millions and millions of dollars through crowd-funding for the sick and their families. We are good humans when we make the world better for our fellow humans.

We as humans have all those good qualities and we tend to band together at the beginning of a disaster. The tough part is we set aside all the “good human” tendencies once we start to tire of the “we’re all in this together” mantra. Being tired, or impatient, or fed-up doesn’t give any of us a reason to not be “good humans.” Please remember that in your actions or your “stand” for your rights. Being a “good human” is all about respecting everybody’s rights.

We respect you and respect and recognize your rights and opinions. But at the end of the day, we need to practice being “good humans” regardless of how fed-up or convinced we are by something that someone said contrary to the conventional message.

I’m reminded of the story of Burbank, California’s patient Zero, the first COVID-19 patient admitted at St. Joseph’s Hospital (the same hospital across the street from the temporarily shuttered Walt Disney Studios, the same hospital where Walt himself passed away over 50 years ago). You probably saw his story on the national news last week.

He had contracted the virus during a ski trip in Italy back in February, as did his 12 other companions on that trip. Trouble is he got it bad. He was in a coma, his organs shut down, he lost precious circulation to his fingers and toes so that his life could be saved. After more than 2 months, patient Zero left the hospital last week.

His story is one of a million right now around the world. Regardless of your opinion on this whole thing, I hope you can be a good human and have compassion for the loss, and respect the rights of others that we live beside on this planet by practicing the things that can help slow the spread of the virus.

We need each other, and we need to ALL be good humans, the world doesn’t work if we don’t. Say hello and respect the life of the clerk at your local market, the delivery people who make it possible to function during a Shelter In Place order. Respect those that may be more compromised health-wise than yourself by socially distancing, wearing face protection, practicing good hygiene. None of these actions cost you any physical harm, take very little or no additional effort in your everyday world.

It costs us nothing to be good humans, and we reap every benefit of doing and being good. Together, and only together, can we make it through this time, we need all of us.

If I may borrow Brian’s phrase, “be good humans.”

—John Van Camp

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