Dear Editor,

Hi all, I’m your neighbor. I work at a public facility in town. I enjoy waiting on you and visiting with you, but sadly, things are different now. It is not business as usual. Although I have talked to others who work in town, I write for no one but myself. I offer these suggestions:

To the extent we have systems, schedules, products, and services in place, things are imperfect - even unfair at times. While you may have been coming to our place for 20 or 30 years, odds are it’s different now. Listen, try to follow the new and ever-changing instructions, be patient, and give everyone extra space and understanding.

Some of us are nervous out here, about the tempers as well as the virus. We, and many of our customers, are on edge. One of my co-workers was assaulted last week. A man wandered up behind me and scared the hell out of me a few days ago. I yelled at him, I’m sorry for that.

Most people get it – this is Ned, after all. We’re a polite and peaceful bunch (except on Facebook groups or STR discussions, maybe this is a good time to reign that in.)

There you go, advice from the trenches. We’ll get through this – most of us, anyway. I’m 65, so, well, we’ll see. Hang in there.

John MacKay
Nederland