First and foremost, how are you? No, really- how are you? Are you like me and the answer can literally change from moment to moment? This has been an interesting time for all of us…to say the least, but for the most part, I feel like I’ve accepted that there’s nothing I can do to fix it.
The biggest struggle for me is not having an end date. If someone could just tell me that it will be two weeks, a month, two months, or even six months. Then, I could wrap my head around it, plan for it, look forward to it, and maybe even enjoy the peace and quiet for a definitive period of time.
Somehow, it reminds me of my “recovery” after my car accident when all of the doctors and therapists couldn’t figure out how to help me and all I wanted was an answer, a diagnosis, a glimpse into what my future would look like. I felt I could work with whatever that was; I just needed to know.
I recently spoke about anxiety and some simple tips on how to manage it in social settings. One of those tips was to fly up and take a bird’s eye view of what that particular moment would look like in relation to your entire life. Would you even see it on the line? Would you even notice it as a spot? Would it even register as a blip on the radar? Or, would it MARCH right up and slap you in the face? Well, I believe that March 2020 did exactly that- walked right up and slapped so many of us right in the chops. I don’t think that many of us will forget it any time soon and, likely, ever.
As I sit down to write, I find myself just coming up for air and digging myself out from under the pile of work that I’ve been consumed with. March was a month that contained some days that may end up in the archives of my life as some of the worst.
Like many, we had spring break travel plans and were slated to go on our first ever family reunion cruise to Mexico- many of our children have never met each other and my own cousins haven’t even met my kids, who are already aged seven and eight. As we realized that we must pull the pin on the trip, my husband and I decided that we were going to embrace the change and roll with it.
Overnight, we shifted gears and packed up to head down the Oregon coast with a plan to surprise the girls’ adopted grandparents in Lake Havasu. First stop: Cannon Beach. Booked. Paid for. As we neared the border crossing, we heard on the radio that we were no longer allowed to cross the line or we’d be subject to a fourteen-day quarantine period upon returning. With a firefighter husband, that wasn’t going to be an option for us, so we pulled the truck and trailer into the next gas station to try and figure out our next steps.
Now without a plan, we headed inside the gas station where we ordered Triple O burgers, hopped on our phones, and started to research our next steps. Where did we end up? Back in our cabin driveway for the night, as we worked on a Plan C.
We reached out to our neighbours who were supposed to be headed to Disneyland to see what they were now planning to do. They, too, had adjusted their plans to go out in their trailer locally and we decided to join. Within a few minutes, I had booked and paid for eight days at the campsite. The girls were excited to know that we had yet another plan and this one had other kids to boot!
Insert the next curveball here… our dog, who had what appeared to be a successful surgery eight days prior, became very uncomfortable, was in a lot of pain, and had a significant amount of new swelling. A bulldog is very rarely ever in pain, so, off we headed to the vet’s office for an unscheduled visit. We were assured that everything was fine, there was no infection, and he just needed to rest more and we should ice “the area.” So, now, instead of sipping icy margaritas on a cruise ship pool deck, I was supposed to be icing my dog’s bits and pieces three times a day? Most definitely not what I thought I had signed up for during Spring Break 2020! But yet, we trudged positively on and were actually laughing at our series of events.
We stayed overnight in the trailer and awoke to the dog in much worse shape. We continued with the sedatives, anti-inflammatories, and icing sessions, but he continued to go downhill. We were convinced that he was suffering from an infection and went to a new vet clinic for a second opinion. There, we were again told that it was inflammation and there were no signs of infection. My husband and I are by no means doctors or veterinarians, but we were convinced that his intense pain, discolouration, and inflammation were due to a terrible infection. Frustrated, we left the second vet’s office and returned to the trailer. The poor dog could barely walk and our hearts were breaking for him.
Back at the trailer, we prepared a nice dinner and had plans to have a board game night, while we paid close attention to the dog’s needs. It was now relatively windy and stormy and the lights were surging and flickering. A few bites into our meal, all the lights in the trailer went crazy and a power surge fried the power converter.
Needless to say, this was an extreme fire hazard and we needed to unplug the trailer, shut down everything, and hurriedly throw our items into bags, as we were quickly losing daylight. Obviously upset, we were also grateful that it happened while we were awake or we could have experienced a serious tragedy.
Back at home, we unloaded the truck, tucked the girls into bed, and put the cold goods into the fridge and freezer. We decided to call it an early night and headed off to bed with the dog in his crate next to us, in order to keep a close eye. I awoke to him in intense pain and, upon opening his crate door, realized that his extreme swelling and infection (duh!) had caused his skin to rupture. Needless to say, we had plenty of blankets and towels that needed washing and drying.
But, guess what? The newish dryer that my husband had recently repaired had broken, yet again, and was not repairable! Heaven help me!
I rushed the dog off to the vet where I was told that he needed emergency surgery and they weren’t sure how well it would go because of the damage to the area and the surrounding tissue. I said a temporary goodbye to my pup and headed back home, where we loaded the kids into the truck and headed out to buy a new dryer- a quick store visit, the purchase, and then off to warehouse for immediate pick up.
Back at home, Chris quickly installed the dryer (so grateful he’s handy!) and we began working through the pile of laundry that had been accrued over the previous few days.
Obviously at this point, we were no longer going camping with our friends because the trailer was unusable and the dog would be unable to get dirty. We were now resigned to the fact that we were destined to stay home! The universe was clearly trying to tell us something.
The dog came home later that afternoon and began what has been a very gradual recovery with two types of antibiotics, sedatives, and anti-inflammatories. And I began what would be an unbelievably emotionally exhausting week of work versus the originally scheduled relaxing vacation.
As things continued to ramp up with the Covid-19 virus, everywhere you turned, the media was discussing social distancing, precautionary measures, and what people and businesses needed to do in order to flatten the curve. It felt all-consuming; I felt like I had paralysis by analysis. I’d go to bed each night drained, feeling like I had worked harder than I ever had and yet had accomplished absolutely nothing. I’d begin to implement a plan and every few hours, the Premier, the Prime Minister, or the Health Minister would add or change something, which seemed to put me back at square one.
Obviously in the hairdressing industry, you cannot cut hair from a six-foot distance! Yet, the government had not mandated closures. As an employee or as an innocent, unknowing outsider, it may have looked like it should have been an easy and simple decision to lock the doors and walk away. I can assure you that it isn’t that simple! Without a government mandate, a “voluntary” closure has several potential implications for an employer, if not handled correctly, which can include severance pay, payout of vacation pay, and/or the requirement to pay employees their wages. And, with revenues substantially down for the weeks’ prior and pending closures, the majority of small business owners are not in a position to cover such costs.
One may have been saying that the morally correct thing to do would be temporarily close, but I urge you not to judge until you know and have experienced the emotional struggle of making that decision when you have faithful and dear employees desperate to stay working to put food on their tables. Nor may some know the fear and emotional toll it takes on a person who doesn’t know how to cover tens of thousands of dollars in leases and other payments with zero revenue and the elimination of your own personal source of income.
On Friday, March 20th, we made the decision to close all eight salons, prior to a government mandate, and laid off fifty-nine people. And, I fired myself. No prior verbal warnings, no written documentations, nothing. Just FIRED. To think I thought my boss was nice. 😉
The following day, the BC government mandated the salon closures, but it wasn’t until eight days later that our Alberta businesses were mandated to close. I spent the weekend ensuring the employees were well taken care off and had everything they needed in order to apply for EI.
Oddly enough, after the closures, I felt somewhat better (at least until I look at the bank accounts). A sense of relief. At least now, we could now begin to put a plan in place and move forward, instead of just spinning our wheels. For the first time in two weeks, I had a relatively good sleep.
What is one of the things I feel great about right now? I feel great that I can say that I believe our team’s organizational culture has never been stronger. I believe people can come together in adversity and through tough times and I believe we have. It’s been an opportunity for us to bond and better understand one another and to realize that, while our individual circumstances may differ, we are all universally impacted.
After this passes and we resume our normal daily activities and get back to our routines, I hope that we will all remember how nice it was to see the neighbour taking out their garbage and the friendly hellos that were exchanged. I hope we will remember to turn off our phones and spend quality time with our loved ones, I hope we will remember to slow down and be grateful for the little things, and I hope that we will remember not to take our planet, our health, and our freedom for granted.
In the meantime, I am going to appreciate the roof over my head, my family, my friends, my employees, the technology that allows me to stay connected with my people and work, my recovering dog, and the quiet time and little break that I have longed for…however, next time, I’ll focus a little more of the “Specific” part of “SMART” goal setting, as this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said down time.
Until next time, be well and embrace your perfuction.