THE FIRST DROP BY JEFFREY KLINEMAN
It’s Been a Year I was in the office parking lot a couple of weeks ago listening to the news and realized: they were talking about Election Day. In one lens, it could have felt like the harbinger of a promising 2021, a chance to move forward after the damage wrought from a devastating global pandemic and an alarmingly caustic political season. Only it was a year later. It was actually election day, 2021. In other words, it’s been a year. And as I sat there, on November 2, 2021, the phrase “It’s been a year” seemed to lack an expletive. I admit to still feeling a little raw at the time -- I’d been up too late two nights earlier to see the Braves blow their fi rst shot at taking the World Series and while the fact that they managed to win it all that evening took some of the sting out of the past couple of decades for this Georgia kid -- but even with that bit of baseball redemption as a salve I’m still feeling a lot of deep cuts. There have been some tough goodbyes. Greg Steltenpohl left us too early, among many others. As the year ends, I’m quietly mourning the passing of another wonderful person who left us too soon, as well. We’re still talking about the conditions under which we work, rather than the work we’re doing. Are you back in the office yet? Are you traveling? Are these things permanent? Surely, we can look at the past year and fi nd something that went right? 6 BEVNET MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 2021
So what’s been good? In a year with such a macabre cast, Liquid Death still seems to keep us entertained. Mike Repole makes us proud: getting there for a second time has to present challenges of the will that are so much more complicated than the first, but beyond that, getting there and showing enormous generosity to employees -- and beyond that, making huge donations to places like Memorial Sloane Kettering -- is simply fantastic. Ken Uptain makes us proud, as well. Seeing someone calm and patient win at the long game is an inspiration. Jomaree Pinkard makes us proud, too, for showing us how to keep battling on through systemic frustration. Kara Goldin makes us proud, for running a company that prioritizes basic kindness and equality.” Daina Trout, Vanessa Dew, Jamie Danek and Michelle Mitchell make us proud for pushing the stone uphill. GT Dave makes us proud for doing the right thing when he got there. As I write this we’re heading into a winter where kids are lining up for shots, understanding their basic role in fighting the plague of COVID while parents are lining up to yell at the educators who are trying to fight the plague of ignorance. It shouldn’t be this way. I know it was a weak moment. We’ve all been through them before. Maybe the pain reflects the potential. I’m going to draw strength from the fact that so many entrepreneurs continue to battle on, even when things get tough. And hey, at least we’re through with Coke Energy. Sorry to be a downer. Good luck out there. We’ll get ‘em next year. Make us proud. Photo by Samara Doole on Unsplash
