Making the Best Out of the Worst

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us

By Scott Swinton

This location is closed until further notice.

I did a little digging to see why so many local Starbucks locations were closed in February of 2022. All across Marin, Solano, and Contra Costa counties stores were temporarily shuttered. I learned little but found that the problem went beyond the Bay Area. I did scrounge an official Starbucks statement off the CBS8 website.

“As we have since the beginning of the pandemic, local leaders can, and do scale operations based on partner availability and local COVID-19 factors. When a store is experiencing a temporary staff shortage, we respond by reducing hours to be mindful that our partners aren’t overworked –prioritizing their health & well-being in our decision making…”

But, of course, it wasn’t just Starbucks.

Café is not open for eat-in – please use the drive-through.

Please forgive the wait, we are temporarily understaffed.

Café hours are limited to 11am – 2pm until further notice

When I needed to pull over and answer some emails last week, I simply couldn’t find anywhere to grab a table and a cup of coffee. At the time of writing, many coffee shops and cafés alike are understaffed and unable to serve patrons while dining-in.

They aren’t closed due to the fear of a COVID infection. They’re closed and understaffed, because for one reason or another, there aren’t enough employees to fill the shift. Are they sick? Did they quit? Why?

Well, COVID is the go-to safe alternative to the “my dog ate my homework” excuse, which is hard to argue against. It’s why a redwood 4’x10’x20’ will now cost you $700 each. It’s why you will wait to get your retaining wall caps for 4 to 6 months. Yes, that’s right. MONTHS! It’s why when we are talking about your upcoming project, we will consider keeping the windows out of the scope, because they are also 4 months out.

Delays, supply chain woes, and rising costs are by no means unique to reconstruction. Better check availability before you get your heart set on that next printer or tennis racket. But unlike printers and tennis rackets, the cost of construction and maintenance is dear to the heart of the HOA industry. Much revolves around building and structure maintenance, and the HOA is nothing if its buildings are not maintained.

The entire workforce of EVERY contractor is likely to be out for a “COVID Break” over the course of a year. It’s a determined plague that starts at one end and rolls through to the other. My office has been no exception, because contracts in the queue are simply getting pushed back until enough of the team returns. We’re getting accustomed to saying, “I would if I could, but I simply can’t.”

This dragging parachute of delay and setback seems harnessed to our economy, social life, and work life, yet delays or missteps that would have torpedoed your day or even your career in 2019 are now simply brushed aside with one simple word – COVID. There’s little consolation here, but possibly, if we look close, there is a bit of hope.

Amid frustrating setbacks and delays, we’ve modified expectations, recalibrated certain demands, and slowed our pace just a bit. Just ask yourself, “Is this really a problem?” COVID has rafted in laden with liabilities, but as the twin raft of expectations and demands become shoved off, is it possible that your blood pressure has actually dropped just a bit?

Maybe two years of constantly punching the reset button has helped us to take ourselves a lot less seriously. It’s caused us to lower expectations, reminded us to enjoy what we enjoy, forced us to stop going places that we never wanted to be anyway, and reminded us to take a deep breath once in a while.

Do we still need to figure out how to keep the wheels of the economy rolling forward or at least, tighten the lug nuts to prevent them from falling off? Yes, please. Do I need Starbucks to stay open? Indeed, I do! Do we need to stay reliable, punctual, and respectful? Absolutely.

The HOA management industry is poised at the critical intersection of business, government, community, and service, and only a few other industries are so strategically positioned to impact society. Our responses to the setbacks of the COVID years will set an example for others to emulate in years to come.

I think an apt summary can be found in one of my favorite Tolkien quotes from the Lord of the Rings:

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Scott Swinton

Scott Swinton is the General Contractor and Certified Construction Manager at Unlimited Property Services, Inc.