Masks? No masks? Positive test rates? 6 feet apart? Indoors? Outside? Young vs. old? What level of recovery should we be in? The list of debatable questions around COVID-19 goes on and on just as the pandemic continues to drag on. Patience is wearing thin. I can read it, see evidence of it in the news and generally feel it in my bones.
I have opinions. I have also tried to educate myself as well as I can. The combination of both opinion and education is the foundation for decisions that I need to make regarding the pandemic that affects the employees and members we serve at your cooperative. I have neither been perfect nor do I claim to have all the answers.
What I do know is debating the answers online, over email or during a socially-distanced discussion is not worth my time. When people want an argument over masks on Facebook, I choose not to participate. When a member emails to chastise me for a community donation related to the virus, I respond once with my logic and refuse a back-and-forth confrontation. On the rare occasion I have an in-person discussion, I simply change the topic.
As the length of the pandemic stretches out, people seemingly want to argue about every aspect. I see this as simple frustration which isn’t uncommon when we don’t have control of a situation. Stress and anxiety don’t bring out the best in the human race. We simply need to be aware, take a breath and “control what we can control.”
It has been my experience that people who want to debate an issue online really aren’t open-minded. What they really want is to rant on their beliefs and rip apart anything to the contrary. It’s simply not worth my time to put fuel on a fire on social media. Instead, I focus on what I believe I need to do to keep cooperative employees safe and members’ lights on.
We all have jobs and family to look after. Getting involved in needless arguments simply takes energy away from these two all important groups. There are decisions and discussions at work and home that need our complete attention. They are also areas where we all have some control. Thus, our time is better served focusing on work and family than in unwinnable debates and discussions.
Obviously, you are welcome to do as you wish. I am merely suggesting that we all win when everyone chooses to skip the forum comments, Facebook rants, email tirades and heated face-to-face confrontations. One by one, we can put out the divisive fires in our community circles. How can a fire spread if nobody is pouring gas on it?
The pandemic hasn’t gone away quickly and will not. It is time to be patient, kind and calm. When we emerge from this situation, we should be better for it. Our bonds with family and co-workers should be stronger. We accomplish this by fighting the common enemy that is the virus together rather than tossing blows at each other. So, let’s move forward with more focus on those issues we can control in our work and family circles.
Thank you for these thoughtful, powerful words that help center our minds and hearts. Your message provides a healthy way forward to manage both personal and business conversations and relationships.
Your sincere and well-written essay deserves respect, and I grant you same, if this pandemic were a real event. Sadly, it is not. It is all a massive con-job to further destroy the middle class by decimating small businesses, in parallel with drastic measures to train the American people to accept a new level of top-down control in their lives, in parallel with the theft of incomprehensible amounts of money from the public treasury to enrich evil people who are already fabulously wealthy. Anyone who doesn’t at least suspect these three trends will have difficulty interpreting what is going on around us.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You have given me ideas how to handle the people who “can’t believe” I have a different point of view. It’s sad, I have never seen so much hate.
I appreciate this sage advice…just hope others will take it to heart!
I do agree on what you are saying. Thank for sharing your thoughts on this.
Yes! So refreshing to hear a level headed, compassionate, and loving approach to dealing with widespread uncertainty and stress. Sometimes it feels radical to remain circumspect. Kudos!
Tony, nice job. Thank you!
Tony, we have watched you over the years and you are known for you excellent management style, balanced, focused attention And your genuine interest in serving our Community. We trust you. This has been an excellent read, and yes, You have our support to draw the lines at anything that serves the greater good. In what is going on, we need to seek the eye of the storm and reside there, relying on what we know about each other and ourselves. There are too many real and fabricated distractions that beg us to do otherwise. We are a base you can rely on when you need something. Please let us know. Your light shines through.
Good job. Focus on what we can control
Thank you Tony for your comments. I agree with you and try to stay out of those conversations.
Thank you for your caring heart.
Yes. This. Thank you Tony
Thank you for sharing. Very well said Mr. Anderson.
marvin. a very well thought out presentation. there is no since getting all worked up. most
people have different ideas and trying to change them just doesnt work. keep up the good work
Very good thoughts. Thanks Tony.
Amen!! I could not had said it better.
Tony, Great article and thoroughly enjoyed reading! But the subject in my email said: What If There Wasn’t Enough Electricity? why this title? Did I miss anything? Regards and keep up the great work.
Archie, the title of the email is trying to get you to go down and listen to the podcast. It is an interview with Wolverine Power Cooperative Chief Financial Officer Zach Anderson (somebody I first met on the day he was born). He and Cherryland’s Member Relations Manager Rachel Johnson talk about the grid and the need for generation resources to meet high demand. It’s really a great podcast. Check it out.