Photo by Eco Warrior Princess on Unsplash
It’s hard being non-essential. Millions of workers have been shocked to learn that what they spend 40 hours a week doing, in the end, is non-essential in these virus-stricken days.
Non-essentiality began at sidewalk level…think shops, restaurants, hair salons, movie theaters. Like the invisible enemy itself, it is now drifting upward to the rarefied air of law offices, architects, marketers and consultants.
Even though we know (or are supposed to know) that we are more than what we do for a living, the moniker of non-essential cuts close to the bone. In the words of a furloughed dental assistant, “I always felt untouchable. This really puts you in your place.”
To be deemed non-essential is like being pruned. It hurts, no doubt about it. Yesterday, I began the grim task of cleaning out my retail shop, as we are, ahem, closing the brick and mortar and — fingers crossed — moving the business online. My one employee has applied for unemployment insurance, and I may be next if I don’t navigate this hair-pin curve with utmost care.
As I unlocked the shop door, my business home for six years, I felt the same dread emotion as when I had to buy a coffin for my father. That was years ago, but the feelings flew back like crows.
I glanced around the dark shop, wiped a tear, and then got to work. The pack-out job boiled down to separating essential from non-essential. Boxes were strewn over the floor, labeled as follows: keep for online sales, sell now at huge discount, donate and discard.
It struck me that only one category, or maybe two, was essential to the future of Vintage Picnic.
My father taught me how to prune tomato plants. Yes, trim off dead leaves and other withered things, but cut off good things, too. “These are suckers,” he said, pointing to shoots of fresh growth coming out of the angle of a major stalk and its primary branches. “Pinch them out. They are sucking life out of the plant.”
Although pruning is painful, it can free us of things that may have taken us off center, off course, off mission. Done with intention and care, it can lead to new fruit, even a vibrant comeback. I certainly hope so, given all I have invested in my small biz.
Another nugget from my Depression-era dad: “Work for a company where your skills are along the line function. It’s safer there.”
I hurt for my employee and the millions who had been contributing to a vibrant economy, and now are sidelined. May the rebound be soon and bountiful, yielding in time a bumper crop.
“What is your line? What is your sucker? Do you know the difference?
Since you can’t eat out, how about a picnic? A picnic basket is suddenly essential. (Sorry…I am still in marketing mode!)