Civilization continues, due to the determination and courage of millions of ordinary workers. People in the background of our lives have leapt into the foreground. Suddenly we have new heroes, and they are everywhere.

Who knew how much was precious in our daily lives? Casual greetings, chats with cashiers, gossip at work, drinks with friends afterwards. Losing these things even for a few weeks or months turns out to be more painful than we could have guessed.

We used to take these face to face encounters for granted. We did not consider it rude to be on our phones with others even while a friend or family member was sitting right there. I wonder if we will still do this when we come out of quarantine. Or will we start to pay more attention to the people we’re actually with?

Rich and middle class people used to take their health care for granted. So long as it was mainly poor people who could not get help when they needed it, most of the non-poor didn’t care very much. Now we are all anxiously watching the overflow at hospitals, the lack of life-saving equipment. It turns out our health depends on other people’s health. Who knew? Will we come through this feeling like everyone has a right to care?

It used to be that nearly half the people in the US had trouble paying their rent or mortgage every month. Now many more will be falling behind. For decades, both federal and state governments have cut housing subsidies and failed to keep market housing affordable. Will we come through this feeling like everyone has a right to shelter?

Children have hated traditional schooling, having to sit in chairs and be quiet all day. Now they’re missing it. So are their parents and their teachers. When this is over, will joy return to the classroom? Will our gratitude lead to better teacher salaries, more curricular freedom, adequate materials?

Mainstream news coverage has hardly told us anything about all the goodies in the 880 page rescue scheme just passed by the federal government. All we know is most of us will get a check. Hooray for that. We’ll need another check next month. But who benefits from the biggest chunk of the $2 trillion giveaway? What good will come of rescuing the cruise ship industry? Did the top 1% really need another tax break?

We’re being reminded of how much we depend on others for food, electricity, everything we need. We remember why we have government in the first place. In the absence of sane federal leadership, governors and mayors are filling the gap. When the present crisis passes, we will compare and contrast.

In his book “Sirens of Titan,” Kurt Vonnegut invented a creature that could only say two things: “Here I am,” and “So glad you are.” When the present crisis passes, will we all be saying these things? Will we remember to be grateful for civilization?