Hello to all those who have made it through the insanity that has been 2020. Last we talked I was working on creating a new ‘norm’ in the midst of our first lockdown. I think I may have been really on to something with that virtual bar/diner and also may have had a couple on the house when trying to use Word’s speech to text function; back to good old typing for this one. Lots has happened since April in my life, well mostly work life, I got a new job back in the corporate kitchen world. I learning lots about myself and being more vulnerable in my development and have made some big strides. But mostly I am working on happiness and positivity. Things people find difficult enough normally around this holiday season, but have become ever more difficult in the midst of a global pandemic.
At the beginning of November I had five days of work I needed to take off so that I could use all my vacation days before our ‘busy season’ hit. For the most part I am very involved person with work. I struggle to separate work and my personal life and constantly find myself reading and replying to emails or calls when I off work hours. Well business was as usual for the first three of my five days off, I was still reading and replying to emails as well as tackling some work that I had been putting off. But for the final two days I completely removed myself from work and disconnected. What I came back to was only two days of emails but the theme and vibe was missing something. Not a single email was positive, and this wasn’t to say they were negative but not a single email or communication included any form of recognition or praise. Now I am in no way saying this is something that only develops when I am away but rather my disconnection allowed me the vision to the whole that was missing in the way we managed our and furthermore our life.
The week this all occurred for me was just after our province implemented further Covid measures to try and slow the growth of our numbers. That in turn brought about some of the most crippling sales we had seen since the beginning of the pandemic. So what I returned to was grim. We needed to cut our forecasts by a quarter and in turn the hours for our staff as well. So my view came to this. We have people who are losing the bulk of their income as we approach what is the financially stressful time of the year and the options in our industry for more work look vaguely like what I imagine it must have looked like for Video store rental staff as they saw Netflix destroy their industry. Quick point of clarification, I am not trying to blame the covid measures for the fall of our industry. Safety First! The Cherry on top, the people managing them through this time completely forgot to stop and appreciate but rather asked for more, albeit in an effort to preserve their jobs for the future. So what is the answer and solution?
If you have ever worked with me you will surely have heard me say, “Attitude is influential.” If I being a positive person insert myself into a scenario and exert my positive attitude it stands to reason that the people around me will be more positive, the same for the opposite. But the reality is this isn’t just occurring in my industry and it’s not just occurring in work, it is occurring in everyday life and I am only one person. Life is harder than it was a year ago, people are struggling in new ways and they may not be showing it. To be honest I don’t have the answers or solutions, but I like to think I am pretty good at making people smile or at the very least making the shitty things less so.
So with all that, I have a request of all those that read this. During this holiday season, and for that matter it’s just good practise, before you approach any kind of communication whether is an email, phone call, zoom call or the ever more rare in person meeting. Please bring up something positive, thank them for being them, acknowledge the success they still managed amongst this chaos, tell them you really like their new covid style. Whatever it may be I promise not only will it brighten that individuals day, whether they need it or not, but it will bring you joy and that will bring positivity.
I remember earlier this year, in the pre covid times, I sat down down to write a post because I was stressing about a food critic coming to the restaurant. What I wrote about was something someone used to say to me, “Life sucks, then you die.” I find when things are difficult I reflect on this and it helps. Life does suck, and yes I will die. With all that out of the way look at all the positivity we have left! You are surviving in one of the worst global pandemics and are coming out a stronger person, people love you, you’re probably better at baking, you saved money on travelling this year, and you probably got to do some of those things at home you were putting off. If all that is not enough then know that despite how hard and overbearing it may seem I can guarantee that with you in it the world is a better place and people are better because of you!
As my late Auntie Roef would say, ‘Tink Positive’
Love Tanner
Auntie Karina, I miss you endlessly and if there was ever person that personified positivity, it was you. The world could use your outlook right now!
