I Think We Lost the Keys to the Kingdom

Chic hen Sandwich and truffle fries. This time a simpler order from our Korean chicken spot. Crispy, spicy with a good thickness on the chicken in relation to the bun and condiments.  Great sandwich.  I've learned a balanced sandwich is a feat not as easy as it looks.  

The take out sandwich and fries, such a comforting food.  It feels so, normal.   Anything regular is reasurring right now.  Things are more than okay when you open up a piping hot sack of food.  But things are feeling less and less okay lately in the physical world.  There is a knowing building that things will never return to the way they were.  

I keep coming back to this topic because now it's been over a year of informing customers in retail that 'things have changed in the world' and on a daily basis. Shocked eyes look back at me, as if they have not seen one example of it until now, until they sit across from me as I lay it on them like a bad stink.   This gets to you.  Completely uninformed, they search my eyes, so desperate for their computer desk, bed frame or kitchen cabinets.  In some cases its people who apparently have never been told no in their lives.   But the majority of folks are just trying to live their lives and most likely have lived through many tragic things but still, are not hip to the new realities of this world.  Somehow, all the news of the past years has been lost on them.  I have to believe people have blinders on, refusing to see the multitudes of cause and effect happening around the globe.  Perhaps its a coping mechanism because living solely in the material world requires the horse to move forward, always eyeing the dangling apple ahead, lest they stop and see the present.  

The problem is not getting better.  So much has happened in a year to make it even worse, yet they say things like 'I just cannot believe this from such a great company'.  First of all, our company's products must be sourced by such green standards, but yet offer a price that most can afford, so technically, it might be even harder for us.  But as I understand it, this is a global issue that is affecting many not only products but labor forces.   

Sometimes instead of listening to their wants,  I feel like laying on them,how hard it is to give bad news for 8 hours a day, everyday.  That this is no picnic for me either.  That the thing I love about retail is that it's a very simple transaction with little emotional involvement besides joy.  You want this, I sell it to you. We're both happy, now get out.  It's perfect.  

I wasn't exactly prepared for all of this heated exchange either if you want to get the truth.  You think I have been given the keys to the kingdom?  

And now, the growing theory is, they may never get those items.  We are going to drastically reduce our offerings due to ongoing supply issues.   I'm not sure of the proper explanation at this point and although there have been several closed door meetings, management has not given us updated verbiage for months. I googled 'why are we out of everything' and watched several videos about ships and containers and drivers, ports, etc.  Instead of saying there are a lot of moving parts to the problems, I now think there are a lot of moving problems to the parts.  

Regardless, common sense can tell you all of these disasters we read about, on a weekly basis, are having a long term affect on product we buy, at the very least.   I still believe this could lead to grassroots efforts, more creative thinking, snap us out of our zombie consumer states.  I don't see it all as a negative.  We can survive without a brand new kitchen, and junior can do his studies at the dining room table.  But look over here!  The government basically just admitted that we are being visited by other worldly beings.  Wrap your mind up in the implications of that!