What’s a Caterer to Do Part 31
Wow! It’s the end of March and I feel like we have been given a reprieve. We’ve had some beautiful weather over the last several weeks. It’s almost like a consolation prize for surviving the pandemic. Tomorrow is going to be 70 and sunny. People are running around in shirt sleeves and shorts. Spring clean-up in our yards and gardens begin! There is hope. There is a tiny bounce in our step. We have spring fever!!! Now, please don’t rain on our parade and mention that upstate NY may be the unhappy recipient of snow, maybe even a couple of inches on Thursday. The one thing we have practiced during the past year is patience. We’re not very good at it, but truly it seems that we’ve been forced to take it one day at a time. Sure, you can plan ahead and fill your calendar, but who knows until the day rolls around what will happen and what won’t happen?
Guess we’re not in control after all, huh?
In addition to practicing patience during the past 12-1/2 months, we have had to develop thick skin and broad shoulders. Makes us sound like some sort of alien reptile. Truly, we can’t let every setback take a toll. We can’t allow ourselves to indulge in mood swings. Happy when the phone rings and we speak with a human, sad when the phone is quiet and there are no humans to talk to. Happy when people respond quickly to our e-blasts, sad when they don’t. Happy when our inbox is brimming with catering requests, sad when the inbox is full of junk, trash, and unsubscribed propaganda. Happy when people order our “dinner for 4”, sad when they don’t. So in order to keep our composure, we will try to be happy and grateful for whatever comes our way,
as long as it makes sense.
So lately I’ve been thinking a lot about eye contact. Maybe because our nose, mouth, chin, cheeks and all our other facial features are hidden behind a mask, but I’ve been paying a lot of attention to eyes. Truly, eyes are the window to the soul. No, I didn’t say that first, but I really like it and I thought it was worth repeating. Eyes are beautiful, so unique and very useful. I often think if one sense had to go away, I sure wouldn’t want it to be my vision. The one thing that bothers me is when people don’t make eye contact. Are they trying to hide something? Can’t they be trusted? Or when people don’t make eye contact with someone because they are a little hard of hearing, a little confused, a little old, a little young, a little whatever….Everyone needs eye contact regardless of their situation. When you don’t look into the eyes of another, they may feel invalidated or dismissed. Many times it is not intentional, but nevertheless hurtful.
As we move forward towards spring, our moods should elevate and we should develop some traction as people begin to gather again and plan special celebrations. Gatherings need catering and as the guidance continues to modify, I’m thinking we have a lot of lost time to recoup. So let’s plan those parties, let’s put some fun events on our calendars and let’s move forward
carefully but purposefully.
Happy Easter to you. Enjoy the promise of Spring.
Thank you for walking with us on this unforgettable, unfathomable journey of 2020/2021.
Stay in touch and be grateful for each day. That’s all we can do for now.
Xoxo Sandra
