This past week brought evidence once again that Colorado is a special place. It started with the announcement that the city of Denver would advance loans to resident federal workers caught up in the shutdown so they can make their home mortgage payments on time. This is pretty much a no risk proposition for the city, as these employees are scheduled to receive back pay once a budget deal is struck in Washington. Presumably they will then reimburse taxpayers. It also tells us there is some measure of slack in municipal coffers. Scanning national newsfeeds it was apparent the mayor’s initiative was sufficiently unusual to catch the attention of pundits and editorial pages across the country. There was a tone of astonishment expressed in many of their reports.

A few days later newly installed Gov. Jared Polis indicated that Colorado would not wait for an exemption from Washington to extend unemployment benefits to these workers, whether furloughed or working without pay. The bureaucrats who would have to review his request are away from their desks themselves. Once again, due to our state’s recent economic strength, it’s likely unemployment insurance accounts are brimming over with dollars as well. Even if it is eventually determined this decency was technically rule bending, it seems likely that 99 percent of these dollars will be recaptured as well. So what is it about Colorado, and I suspect other Western states, which prompts us to take care for our own?

Whether it was the cataclysmic Front Range floods a few years ago or what are becoming perennial wildfire seasons, we are swift to not merely rescue but restore victim losses as best we can. It would be easy to romanticize this neighborliness as an evocation of our frontier, barn-raising ethic and, in part, perhaps it is. But the truth is that the majority of Coloradans have always been immigrants to the state. Native born residents have always been in the minority. However, these newcomers share the common experience of having the courage to start their lives over again – of having taken a leap of faith and hope that their lives will be bettered. Once here, most discovered a state abundant in natural beauty, enterprising neighbors and a sense of shared good fortune. When others have extended a hand to you upon arrival, it is easier to extend your own hand when misfortune strikes.

If this shutdown drags on for months, I doubt we are done. Already merchants, restaurants and non-profit agencies are offering discounts and assistance during the shutdown. For whatever reasons, Coloradans are quicker to personalize hardship. Tens of thousands of federal workers across our state is just a number. But, the coach of your son’s football team or daughter’s basketball team is someone you care about. We have all been desensitized by recurring reports of pension plan failures or nationwide layoffs. It is too easy to forget these injustices impact real mothers and fathers, their families and ultimately ruins the quality of their lives. We do too little to hold the perpetrators accountable whether they are hedge funds, ruthless fiscal pirates or, in this case, our politicians.

Pointing fingers accomplishes nothing. There is plenty of blame to go around. Not the least should be assigned to congressional Republicans who failed to fund their president’s border wall during the two years they served in the majority. It’s been reported that many members of Congress believe the current stalemate won’t be resolved until we experience a plane crash or widespread food scare. Isn’t that charming? Imagine the finger pointing then! Lets put people back to work before that happens. Meanwhile we can be thankful Mayor Hancock and Gov. Polis stepped up, unprompted, on behalf of federal workers. Solidarity is a blue collar ethic we can all support.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former state legislator. He can be reached at mnhwriter@msn.com.