Most of us never get a chance to interact with many of our public servants. Unless we have friends who work in public service jobs we might not even really know what service they perform each and every day. We usually do not have contact with many of these good folks, except when we run into a problem either at home or work.

In speaking of these good folks, I am referring to those who work in law enforcement, our local police and sheriff’s office employees, utilities folks, public works crews, fire department and any others who work in a field that offers services to the public at large. Those services that we many times take for granted until they are no longer available or we lose service that we depend on.

When that happens those good folks can’t get to us fast enough. We might not even mind that they have to be called away from their families, leave a hot meal on the table, especially BBQ ribs, or have to spend a part of their weekend taking care of issues that arise.

We do not think about what these folks might have planned, we want them to fix our problem and fix it soon. We do not want to be inconvenienced whatsoever. We might not even give a thought to the fact that they have to be out in really bad storms, lightening, wind, snow, ice and rain, extreme heat and cold.

Just last Sunday,when there was a gas main break close to my house, Hartselle Utilities workers were on the scene within 15 minutes of receiving a call. Hartselle Police and Fire Departments also responded. While I mentioned that these folks work in all kinds of weather, they also work in dangerous situations many times as well. The men from Hartselle Utilities worked into the evening hours in 30-degree temperatures and below to repair the gas main so that their customers could again have heat for their homes. Even after the gas main was repaired, the men worked into the night and early morning going around to each house affected by the gas main break. When gas flow is cut off to a home, it cannot be restored until the HU folks can verify every gas appliance starts back up correctly. Basically, they ensure the pilot lights ignite when the appliance or heating unit is turned on. While some might think this is a pain, it is much better than an appliance malfunctioning and causing your home to fill with gas. The utility folks spent hours in the cold Sunday evening and morning but did their best to make sure everyone’s heat was working. They even crawled into the attic of a house in our neighborhood to relight a pilot light so the person would have heat.

Thanks to HU and all other folks who work to keep us safe and services on that we are accustomed to. You all do a great job and we appreciate your dedication.

Randy Garrison is the president and publisher of the Hartselle Enquirer.