Covid-19 statement

I was waiting to write this until things developed and revealed, to the point where common sense could be applied and understood.  However, observing people's understanding of illnesses, and health in general, over the past few months, I maybe should have written it sooner.

Thank you to the customers that have graciously respected the social distancing, and the new ways of interacting at my place of business.  It is both to your benefit, and to my own(I shall explain).

To review; I have closed the office and shop to customer traffic.  A door bell button has been installed on the outside office door that connects to my shop klaxon to get my attention if I am under a vehicle or there is too much noise to hear a knock.  If there is not a "ETA time" sign on the door, I will come to the door after I clean my hands of grease.  We will conduct business outside the door. 

I am currently working on a way to conduct business inside the entryway during inclement weather.  If you have a mask on, I will also put my mask on to respect you and your health.  If you are not wearing a mask, I will keep distance outside and we can talk freely without a mask. 

I do "sanitize" the vehicles when they arrive.  I use a product named "Tornado"(how fitting for Kansas).  I spray the keys, and the key surfaces that we mostly touch when getting in and out of a vehicle to operate it.  If it is a farm vehicle with manure and dust...I don't bother. : )

If you want to find out what motivates me to serve my customers and try to produce a product of service that is professional and honest, you can go to my website and read my vision. www.hesstonauto.com  However, there is another reason I own a shop and am not farming. 

When I was 7 years old my father gave me the task of running water out to the combine crew in the field that was 1/4 mile away from the house.  It was early August in South Dakota, and the oats harvest was in full swing.  And it was hot.  I didn't have a hat.

I remember going out to the field one time.  But I don't remember anything after that.  They said I got "summer sickness".  But it was many years after that, with getting this so-called summer sickness several times, that we finally found out that I had gotten heat stroke. This injury left me without the ability to physically take the rigors of farming, or to withstand working in the full sun. 

This is why, in the summertime, when you drive up with a vehicle and pop the hood just outside the door, I go back and find my hat.  Even just 5 minutes in the summer sun without a hat affects how long I can keep working that day.

This weakened my respiratory system.  After that time I suffered several times a year getting the flu.  When I got married, my wife and doctor convinced me to take the flu shot every year and that has helped wonderfully. 

So, therefore, I have been a casual student of respiratory diseases because I have to be.  And Janell, with her amazing research abilities, has helped me to stay healthier. 

I understand the practical use of PPE, and what could happen if this virus is left unchecked by us, the people of this land.

Many of you have notions that this virus thing is all too much played up, even to the point that many of you believe it is a scam to get the government to control us.  I do not see it that way.  I understand what this virus is and what it can do.  Therefore I am working very hard to lessen my exposure(because the amount of exposure is what it is all about), so that I can keep working. 

Since Janell works at a daycare, where 3 year-olds have very little hygiene, she is exposed more than I am.  So then, it follows that Janell and I work at keeping touching to a minimum to protect me, the family, and you the customer.  I do not want to pass on to you something that I have been exposed to indirectly.  I respect your health. 

Thank you again, for respecting my health, and the things I have had to put into practice at work for both of us to stay healthy. 

If you need a more blunt message than this long drawn out blog, then I will put it this way:  Our actions, about how we handle this virus, affects other people's health, and could possibly lead to their death.  The virus does not have a political agenda against our freedoms, nor does it take sides.  But how we exercise our freedoms, has a direct bearing on someone else's ability to stay alive.

For me personally, my only hope is worded well in Psalm 91, and to lessen my exposure as much as possible, for, "A prudent person foresees danger and take precautions.  The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

Freedom, and restraint, are married.  When those two divorce, ungodly children are the result.