Back & Forth

August 2021

This is probably the sixth or seventh time I’ve written about the COVID-19 pandemic as it relates to our membership. The last time, just a few short months ago, I’d hoped it would be the last.

Clearly, I’m NOT a prognosticator!

Just when I thought we were putting our long national nightmare behind us, I find myself once again trying to interpret the advice of virologists, immunologists, public heath experts and political leaders.

In other words, I’m once again lost in the fog of COVID.

We’ve gone from an increasing comfort and sense of emergence to renewed pleas for vaccination, re-masking in public spaces and now talk of a booster shot beginning in late-September.

Every business owner and employer I work with cares about their employees and customers more than practically everything else! That level of care drives their thinking, planning and strategy.

I’m not sure, but it feels like the confusion resulting from the decisions and guidance is almost as paralyzing as the virus itself.

That brings us to our current situation. Getting a vaccine continues to be the most effective way to protect yourself, those you care about, as well as to move towards the full resumption of the economic conditions that existed pre-pandemic.

I’m not suggesting that some don’t have legitimate reasons to choose not to get the vaccine, but those are (and should be) rare and based on medical, not political, advice.

We’re also told that mask-wearing in public places, especially when maintaining physical separation isn’t possible, will limit the spread of the virus, particularly the delta variant. Clearly, this modified advice contradicts what we were told in May/June 2021. That dichotomy can be easily manipulated by opponents of these policy changes to questions the credibility of the guidance. That’s unfortunate, but it is reality.

I’m recommending a different path.

From the onset of the pandemic in the early Spring of 2020, I’ve advocated for a strategy I’ve referred to “meet our members where they are”.  That strategy suggests that most people have a unique and personal sense of their own safety and comfort. There isn’t really any right or wrong, but there is a greater need for tolerance and understanding than ever before.

So for our members, my advice is to take the steps YOU need to take to be able to fully review your own pre-pandemic economic activity. Whatever process and guidelines work best for you, your employees and your customers is the path you should take. The key to wider acceptance of whatever path you choose is how well you communicate with all concerned. A well-communicated plan may not satisfy everyone, but they’ll at least understand why you’re operating the way you are!

As a consumer, our best course of action is to exercise a higher degree of patience and tolerance than we normally would. Give the benefit of the doubt, even (especially) if you disagree with the business owner. Arguing with a clerk, server or front desk worker over company COVID policy compliance probably isn’t the best use of your, or their, time.

So be patient. Be tolerant. Get vaccinated, even with a booster shot when they become available.

We’ll all get through this together, despite all of the back and forth