I Fully Empathize
Let me start by saying how much I appreciate all the kind birthday wishes on social media yesterday. The only downside to raising a marketing maven daughter is that she has access to both our Facebook and Instagram pages and while I’m always reticent to announce being a year older, she is too young to ever consider that aspect. Nonetheless, yesterday was the first day in seven years that I didn’t work on my birthday and let me tell you, IT WAS A GIFT. I was exceptionally lazy and my family indulged my movie choices - Sixteen Candles, She’s Having A Baby, and You’ve Got Mail - while ensuring I did no chores around the house normally scheduled for a Sunday. I’m a very lucky girl indeed.
Like most in Columbia, we were closed today because it has snowed the majority of the day and is currently zero degrees, with a wind chill of -9. CHARMING. I can’t imagine why anyone would leave their house today unless absolutely necessary for work or an emergency, so it’s unlikely anyone has come to the door of PJP and been surprised to find our baking space dark and quiet. (I would actually guess it is unlikely anyone has been to our door at all.). After reviewing today’s forecast, it wasn’t a terribly difficult business decision to make for today. But since it is now after 8 pm, I am in full blown stress about tomorrow. If it snows all night and is terribly cold tomorrow, will anyone get out to purchase pie? Who knows. I now fully empathize with all people who have to make decisions about weather related closures. And issue an apology to myself for stressing myself out over the decision I eventually make. I would suspicion there are people out there who will close their business tomorrow and be fully confident in their decisions. I’m not one of those. Let’s break it down together:
Pros to closing:
OMG, IT IS SO COLD. I’m basically wearing three layers of clothes and am writing this while under a weighted blanket in my nicely heated home. I super hate being cold, so leaving the house isn’t super appealing. Tomorrow doesn’t look much more promising.
The roads apparently aren’t great, since they can’t be treated due to cold temperatures. Staff and customer safety is always a big consideration. All state offices, Mizzou, and Columbia Public Schools have all closed for tomorrow. That’s a statement.
It would be sad to make a whole lot of pie and sell relatively little - or none - of it.
Not to mention expensive to fully staff and stock a store and only make a handful of sales.
Cons to closing:
Well, I like routine very much. And staying on our regular hours is a siren call to my routine oriented nature.
People may be over feeling stuck in their houses and so they might find they want a savory or dessert pie. Pot pie is the perfect dinner when it is zero degrees.
We would be there to run the water so the pipes don’t freeze. And look, I know nothing about pipes freezing except that every third post on Facebook today has been about tips to keeps pipes from freezing. And also, I know our landlord wouldn’t feel bad for our polar vortex pie baking selves and fix the pipes just because, so…
Odds are that I’ll be up at 4 am in the morning to analyze all the data again. And run some water through the pipes at home…
