March 17, 2020

I am going to try and post some thoughts.  They are real and very raw.  Please visit a local small business today.  Pick up a coffee from Ponder if you can.  Get donuts from Robaire's for the office.  It's not just business owners who are scared, it's the team that stands with them.  

I wake up to this idea of a new normal, again.   This time the world has stopped spinning with me, and we all are scared, we are all terrified.  We look outside and our streets are empty, our movie theater is empty, CMU stadiums are empty.  What will be empty next?

What happens today I have no idea.  Our friends in other restaurants, have no idea.  Our friends at our local bars, have no idea.  Are we going to be busy enough today with take out orders to warrant being open?  And this is day one of at least 14.  It’s a nightmare scenario for not just us, but our incredible team that make our restaurants successful.

I spent most of yesterday in a daze, a terrified emotional internal breakdown.  Will our industry survive, yes. Will there be some that shut down forever, yes.  How is it possible to sleep at night with this unknown?  How is possible to sleep at night with that fear?

Sometime very late last night I was finally able to close my eyes and rest my mind.  Stop shaking and let a calm come in.  It was a member of my team who got me there, her selflessness in the time of fear is what makes us human.  She gives hope. She was gone all last week for spring break, and is currently having the majority of her hours cut this week.  Phone bills, rent payments, gas, groceries, tuition, and a paycheck with maybe 8 hours coming her way.  

She came in yesterday to let Kat and I know that she wants to volunteer on Sunday if she can.  Volunteer to come in and assist with People Helping People, to make sure those that would go without a meal on Sunday are taken care of.  That the most vulnerable of our community are not forgotten, not overlooked.  What an inspiration in a time of fear.   Putting others before yourself, so incredibly beautiful.  Thank you for showing hope in the time of fear.

I'll leave you today with a quote about beauty. Finding beauty in a time of such anguish and unknown.  

"I need to remember. Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave in."

-elmo.