Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM NOVEMBER 2020 62 S ome changes are gradual and steady – we ease into the newness of doing things differently. We may grumble, but we make our peace and move on. COVID didn't give us time to carefully adjust or ease into things. Almost overnight we were placing new restrictions on our employees and asking them to change how they took service requests, contacted customers, entered homes and workplaces, etc. And don't get me started on the downtime. If the expression "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" is even remotely accurate, then Jack has been losing his mind in 2020. So here we are months beyond what we couldn't have remotely imagined would be a life-changing event. We were supposed to have a few weeks of family bonding and working from home, and then back to business as usual. But that didn't happen, and where does it leave us – or rather lead us? We learned that we were "essential." So what now? All of the "essential" workers have been routinely showing up for work and going home every day for months with very few distractions to keep their sanity. Or worse, they show up at their kitchen table or home office and don't go anywhere. We made our adjustments. We grumbled and cursed the situation, and all the while we worked. We sent technicians into homes knowing we had no control over the environment beyond our own PPE and a bottle of hand sanitizer. And still…we worked. As owners we worry. Worry about our people, our business, our survival, our customers, our health…and still we work. As techs we worry. We worry about being exposed, about missing work, about income and providing for our families, about exposing our families to the virus…and still we work. As call takers and schedulers we are yelled at and questioned, we are out of the loop, and yet there is no new information to share. We hear the urgency in the customer's voice but can do nothing to bridge the gaps…and still we work. Our work and our world changed…and still we do what we do, every day and with as much positivity as we can muster. We smile at the customer who smiles at us because we need it. We smile at the customer who doesn't because they need it even more. We encourage the staff and reward them as much as possible, while we cancel get-togethers and company outings and try to think of other ways to keep them engaged and happy. The test has been real and really challenging…and still we work. When this all began, my biggest concern was whether our industry would be considered essential. Would our businesses stay open when so many were being forced to close? Would I be able to keep employees or would they be too afraid to work? Should I apply for PPP? And what about self-quarantine and unemployment. What do I do? "One day at a time," I told myself. Just keep getting up and going to work. This entire year has been a test in patience and a test in many other ways it's impossible to name them all. If one thing can be lifted up as a highlight in a sea of low lights, for me it would be that we continued doing the work. We are strong blue collar members of society and we keep things running. These times will fade into memory and things will return to "normal" at some point. People will forget that it was the truck driver who got the food to the shelves. They will forget that the mechanic kept that truck running so the driver could do his job. They will forget that your tech and mine fixed the stove and the dishwasher and so many other things so that their lives continued with less concern, less stress. They will never know or appreciate the stress that was fluid in our companies and the hours of extra work that were logged. They will lose sight of the place that blue collar holds in keeping society together. But we won't forget…and still we work. Renee Galioto is co-owner of Island Appliance Repair in Wilmington, NC. Renee and her husband Patrick have ten technicians covering three counties and have served this coastal community for more than twenty-five years. S E R V I C E D E P A R T M E N T RO AND STILL WE WORK

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