the.com/frontline
wherever the danger is freshest, and the paperwork hasn't caught up yet.
means the foremost edge of any conflict or crisis, where the people doing the actual work meet whatever they're fighting.
from military term for the forward line of troops facing the enemy, first line of contact in trench warfare, later borrowed by anyone describing work that puts you closest to a crisis: nurses, teachers, firefighters, cashiers in 2020.
ww1 originnamed literally, the front line of trenches
pandemic shiftsuddenly meant grocery clerks, not soldiers
military ironygenerals rarely stand anywhere near it
for instance
western front — ww1 trench line stretching belgium to switzerland, 1914-1918
nhs nurses — called frontline workers throughout the 2020 pandemic
donbas frontline — active combat zone in eastern ukraine since 2022