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MOMMA SAID THERE
WOULD BE YEARS LIKE THIS |
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I've always loved the week between Christmas and New Year's.
Everything slows to a crawl. Many businesses shut down, offices close, and
people take time to hang out at home.
Sound familiar, like maybe the last 40 weeks? I doubt I'll
ever appreciate this week like I did before.
It's been said over and over---this was a year like no other.
I can't let it end without a personal recollection of the year in review
(focusing mostly on business), because that's what columnists do.
It sure started out well. My company, which owns restaurants
and retail stores in tourist areas throughout California, was poised for
its best year ever. Tourism was booming, convention business was booming,
sales were booming. And then boom.
I'll never forget watching the evening news in January and
seeing the field hospitals being erected in Wuhan, China. The poor people
of Wuhan were having problems with a mysterious virus. So far away. I was
sure glad I didn't live in China.
In February I remember first hearing the word
"pandemic." Nah, that's not going to happen here. We dealt with
the Bird Flu, SARS, Ebola. This latest one is just another bump in the
road. Sales over the President's Day weekend were the best ever. Nothing
but clear skies ahead.
News from Italy was a bit worrisome, especially when the
authorities locked everything down in the Lombardy region. And the cruise
passengers getting sick in late February concerned me. But people are
always getting sick on cruises.
We'd be fine. In early March, I went on a four night vacation
to Hawaii, still in denial. There was talk of limiting crowds at sporting
events and other venues. Always optimistic, I thought it was an
overreaction.
There are moments in life that are forever seared in your
memory. One of those was when I was standing on the beach during that
vacation in Hawaii when a friend walked up, smartphone in hand.
He looked at his phone, then solemnly at me. "They just
suspended the NBA season," he announced.
Uh, oh. Time for a reality check. This was clearly going the
wrong way.
Let the downward spiral begin. We came home to television
scenes of people dying in droves in New York City. On March 16th, San
Francisco officials issued a Stay at Home order and shut down all
non-essential businesses. The rest of California followed days later. The
world as we knew it was over, and the nightmare began.
Ever optimistic, I expected the lockdown to last a few weeks.
Little did I know. Businesses were still closed in May. People stayed
home, and cases didn't explode in California.
"We flattened the curve!" I would shout to anyone
who would listen, using the new catchphrase. "Where's the
reward?"
The reward finally came in June, when we were allowed to
slowly reopen---restaurants with takeout and then outdoor dining, and
retail with curbside pickup, which may be the most ridiculous concept ever
devised, unless you own a bookstore.
Eventually retail stores were allowed to let customers
inside, and sales picked up to the point where we were only down 70% from
2019 figures. We started to show some improvement, and then the noble
Black Lives Matter protests and not-so-noble unrest hit us.
Except for a few broken windows in the retail stores, we got
through that period. Then another short round of improvement was enjoyed
before the August fires raised their smoky heads. While others suffered
far, far more, it also put quite the damper on outdoor dining and other
activities, like shopping.
But the fires finally smoldered away in late September, and
October once again showed improvement. Optimism was in the air, right up
until the time the surge hit.
Now it's almost 2021. With restaurants closed again (except
for takeout, which for most is not sustainable) and retail limited to 20%
capacity, everything is a complete mess once again, and it will probably
be a while before things improve.
But improve they will. And while my business is Exhibit A for
pandemic-driven economic casualties, I am in no need of sympathy. The PPP
"loans" from the federal government are more than enough
consolation. The influx of cash has insured our survival until the
day we can prosper once again, which will hopefully be soon.
It's the workers who need more help. So many people in so
many industries are struggling with layoffs, furloughs or reduced hours.
We're doing everything we can for our employees, but it's never enough.
Give where you can, and let's plan on a happier new year. |
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