We’re just now heading into the second quarter of the beginning of the third decade of the not-so-new millennium. And what a start it has been. As we used to say back in the day, you can’t trust anyone over 30 — but I trust that when we look back on this year another nine months from now, the one word that will have best described it is “unprecedented.” 

It’s safe to say that as of this writing, I have heard the word “unprecedented” an unprecedented number of times. But what does it really mean? Our country, along with the rest of the world, experienced the flu pandemic of 1918 (the so-called Spanish Flu), which was more devastating than the world war that had just preceded it. Ironically, it took the lives of many who had barely escaped death on the battlefields of Europe just a few months earlier. 

In terms of overall national trauma, some few of us recall Pearl Harbor, while many more of us remember the psychic impact of 9/11 and the outrage of Hurricane Katrina. We’ve been here before. What’s different about this rodeo is the enemy. We can’t see it; and so far the best we can do is treat the casualties it leaves in its wake while limiting its number of available victims as best we can.

Tragically, “as best we can” has dire economic consequences — yet another source of trauma. Just a matter of weeks ago the U.S. economy was riding high and unfettered, with record job creation and stock market growth along with steady improvement in GDP. The next thing we know, the stock market is deflating like a ruptured dirigible, 10 million people are filing for unemployment benefits, and we are on the brink of losing a number of small business sectors, starting with the restaurant and hospitality industries. It’s as though we were cruising down the interstate of commerce at a respectable 70 mph, only to round a curve and find a concrete wall directly in front of us — with our airbags failing to properly deploy on impact. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

If you’ve wondered how all this is going down at Meyer Sign & Advertising, we thank you for your concern. You’ll be happy to know that we’re doing alright for now — or at least as alright as a “non-essential” Skagit Valley business can hope for at this point. Thanks to our “essential” businesses, we now have a new class of “first responder” heroes: the “can’t do withouts.” These include such obvious folks as grocery workers and pharmacists, and virtually anyone employed in our local healthcare system. But there are many others as well. Some, like teachers, are still expected to do their jobs, but are taking advantage of new media technologies to do so while self-isolating. It seems we are all embarked upon learning curves that are rising along with infection rates — but which will hopefully continue, to our benefit, even as the infection curve flattens.

My neighbor works for UPS. I was out for a walk the other day, contemplating this very blog, and on my return home discovered him working on a landscaping project. From a distance of maybe 15 feet (I take no chances at my age) I asked him how the pandemic was affecting him, and if he was concerned for his health. Turns out that being a UPS driver is also considered an essential job, so he’s working just as many hours as ever; and with people turning even more to online buying as they hunker down in their homes, you could easily imagine things getting busier — potentially exposing him to more people, and vice versa. He told me, however, that given his seniority he assigned himself a lot of rural routes, where social distancing has long been a matter of lifestyle.

As for us here at Meyer Sign & Advertising, we’re observing Washington State’s pandemic guidelines, and our day-to-day operations have been suspended, just like those of so many other businesses in our community. Kristi still comes in to keep our administrative life in order (paperwork outlasts pandemics) as well has being the warm and engaging voice you hear when you call us. As of last weekend, Ken had successfully transported the airplane he has been building to the Skagit Airport. He promises to send photos after a few more cosmetic touches. Gregg and his family recently decamped to his “happy place” — otherwise known as Lake Chelan. We can’t wait to hear if the Manson RC Boat Racing Club has figured out a way to use “at distance virtual reality” to ensure the 2020 racing season, but we know Gregg won’t give up on another shot at the title. Mike divides his time between the loving embrace of his family and his escape from it long enough to check in on his customers from the solitude of his self-isolated office. We don’t do cubicles at Meyer Sign & Advertising.

Unlike other local businesses, ours is slightly more cushioned from our immediate geographic market. This is in part because of the radius we are able to serve regionally, and the fact that a percentage of our business comes from national brands. But at some point, everyone in the commercial “food chain” is affected when consumers either have no money to spend or nowhere to spend it. We aren’t financial advisers, but if you happen to fall into the latter category, a savings account makes for a solid option.

Sadly, many or our friends, neighbors, and family aren’t as fortunate as my neighbor the UPS driver. These are the folks we worry most about. We worry about the very existence of the enterprises to which they have devoted their lives and sacrificed much in order to create. We’re not just talking about jobs. Not even about livelihoods. We’re talking about financial futures, and how imperiled they must seem to so many right now — the sleepless nights, the anxiety, the inability to even contemplate a future one quarter ahead that was anything like one imagined a quarter ago. 

We worry about Kea Sok and Sophann Ley, the husband and wife owners of Sarkall’s Donuts and Noodles Shop, who had just brought back their full menu following the critical illness of a family member who was instrumental in making the broth for their amazing soups. For months, Sarkall’s could only offer their full menu on the weekend, but thanks in part to being joined by a sister-in-law who recently arrived from their native Cambodia, their full menu was back on a daily basis.

We worry about the Stanek Family of NW Autobody, having recently purchased the building their business has operated from for two generations. Its facade recently underwent a facelift with help from Meyer Sign. We worry about Derek Wyckoff, partly because his local brew pub (192 Brewing Co.) had been busily expanding its capacity, including the creation of its own on-site brewing capability…and partly because we just like beer.

We worry about the folks from The Bony Pony, who have been preparing a new and expanded retail space for an opening now on indefinite hold. We worry about our many business relationships in Sedro-Woolley, whose economic pluck we have celebrated in the past. We worry about Hansen’s Furniture and Craft Stove in west Mount Vernon, who had recovered so amazingly from a devastating fire just a few years ago. And of course, we worry about the well being of our loved ones, who depending on their ages and pre-existing conditions are at various levels of risk for contracting COVID-19.

But amidst all “the sorrows of the head” (as a favorite hymn describes it), there is a bedrock faith that “this too shall pass” — and that on the other side of crisis we’ll find new ways of working, new opportunities to connect with one another, and renewed confidence in our resourcefulness and generosity. 

You can already see the signs. Restaurant icons like Mexico Café have tailored their menus and pivoted from a dine-in to a take-out model (check out COA’s website for a brilliant example), and some like Max Dale’s and the Stanwood Grill have dedicated the proceeds from specialized take-out offerings to local non-profit organizations. Churches are keeping their congregations together in worship through streaming  media technologies. The Skagit Valley Family YMCA provides childcare for medical first responders. Tulip Town creates a program for folks to make flower donations to services who are on the front lines of the viral battle, while designing a virtual tour of the fields in their seasonal magnificence. And a day hardly goes by when you don’t pick up the newspaper to a front page story of someone engaged in an act of selflessness and beauty, like the lady in Conway who offered free art materials for local families looking for creative ways to occupy their suddenly home schooled offspring.

Oh, and The Bony Pony — their new Meyer Sign LED display proclaims that they are now offering a personal shopping service with curbside delivery. I’ve already been on their website checking out a white pearl snap shirt for my upcoming birthday. It’s time to cowboy up. And when it all gets back to “normal” again, we’ll discover that normal isn’t the same anymore. It will be better because we’ll be better people for what we’ve been through.

Hang in there, Skagit Valley, we look forward to once more giving you a “non-virtual” hug. Thanks for being such a great place to live.