Even in these disturbing, strange, difficult times, people still find ways to work things out. Like the mayor of a town in South Carolina and the manager of a fast food restaurant, for example.
Their story begins at a drive-thru clinic facility, where folks in the town of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina were in line, in their cars, to get COVID-19 vaccinations.
The wait time of at least an hour, or so, was reduced to 15 minutes, because the town’s mayor reached out to someone skilled at moving lines along, quickly and efficiently… the local restaurant manager.
Like many eateries worldwide, this particular restaurant — one of a fast food chain of dining establishments — can only serve customers at its drive-thru facility, because of COVID.
“The fast food-chain… has tapped into an even higher level of productivity since the dining rooms have been closed to the public,” according to an article in The Post and Courier newspaper. At its Atlanta headquarters, the company has “full-scale mockups” where cars can be driven “through a test line to get the process just right…” There’s someone to get your order on a tablet, and various workers assembling the meals, while others are directing traffic and keeping the line moving.
That’s the expertise the Mount Pleasant restaurant manager, and his team, brought to the table, so to speak, so they could make life a little easier for folks waiting in line at the drive-thru clinic.
When something’s difficult and challenging to work through, it’s encouraging to see people sharing skills, teaming up and helping out. The workarounds folks are coming up with are encouraging, as well. ‘Workarounds,’ a word often used in business, is defined as “a method of overcoming a problem or limitation in a program or system.”
In this day and age, how cool this is!
This takes one’s mind off other things, like those politicians in Washington DC who seem hell-bent on – what’s the phrase you hear in crime movies? – ‘packing their iron,’ meaning their guns, when they’re debating issues in the House of Representatives. Only a few, fortunately…
Maybe this also takes one’s mind off that conspiracy theory hoopla, as well. Luckily, the other day, I stumbled upon an article with some perspective on such hoopla.
Way back around 1840, there was “a secretive cabal convinced that the country was being controlled by an even more secretive cabal,” according to an article in Politico magazine. One such cabal was called ‘The Order of the Star Spangled Banner’. But this particular hoopla, nearly two centuries ago, didn’t last.
It went all kaput, sort of like one of the engines on former President Trump’s private 757 airplane. The plane has been stored someplace, apparently sitting idle, during Mr. Trump’s four years at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, according to what I’ve heard in the news.
I suppose this is an odd analogy, likening ‘The Order of the Star Spangled Banner’ to the ex-POTUS’s 757 engine… with both going kaput. But these are odd times.
And, as long as we’re on odd analogies and odd times, I caught several minutes of one of those reality shows on TV. This particular show seemed to be sowing discord among people. Various reality shows, from what I’ve heard, are positive, constructive and helpful. But this particular show wasn’t…very much.
Of course, former President Trump did have that starring role in The Apprentice, his reality show, with folks going up against one another and getting fired.
So, I’ve been wondering about reality TV, wondering about its role, so speak, nowadays.
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.