Valuable community roles

Long ago, probably in 1956, I was jeered at a medical meeting. A pompous family doctor with more hubris than competence or charisma had boasted that his job was the most important in the community, and he ought to be paid accordingly. I, also a family doctor at the time, followed him to the podium, and before beginning my prepared talk, sought to restore a sense of proportion. I said we wouldn't win friends by boasting about our own importance; in a complex industrial society, many play essential roles. Garbage collectors, bus drivers, telephone linesmen, many others, are just as important. If one occupational group was the most important, it was school teachers, especially teachers of very young children. Without them, our culture, would collapse, I don't think I mentioned kindergarten teachers: in Australia in1956 most children's education began in Grade 1. In an ideal world, I said, primary school teaching would be the highest paid occupation. The audience, almost all family doctors, booed, hissed, even shouted their outrage. At the coffee break, a woman doctor much older than I said she agreed with me, but I wouldn't win friends with remarks like mine. I've said the same again rather often since 1956, and sometimes have even been applauded. Now I'm delighted that my grandson's lady love is a kindergarten teacher and I am eager to meet her.