Hey There, 2024.
So here we are, on the other side of the 2023 holiday season. And so many of you emailed or stopped by the stores to check-in on us since I was pretty quiet here for the duration and that was kind of you, so thank you. We were absolutely fine, but let me tell you, we worked so hard this holiday season. You know when someone runs a crazy 100 mile race through a mountain range and a desert and it takes 36 hours and when they cross the finish line, they collapse into tears, and are immediately wrapped in an aluminum foil blanket? I was a little like that, minus the running. And the blanket. But I would have accepted one.
So let’s talk about it:
As always, we set a yearly sales goal. And for the most part, I derive my self-worth and validation directly from the achievement of that goal. And this year, it was NOON ON DECEMBER 31ST before we crossed the goal threshold. Goodness. The stress of it all about did me in. We are just so thankful to reach our goal and the relief is so palatable that the afternoon and evening of the 30th and the day of the 31st may have been the first time I relaxed over the holiday season.
Of course, we’ve taken these few days off to recuperate and to set the 2024 goal. We sort of sit around and slide numbers on paper across the table to each other like when you negotiate a car purchase. It’s been decided now, so there’s nothing left but to do it.
(Though, I’m probably going to have to go on a 36 hour emergency hold for my mental health if I see one more Tik Tok discussing the possible looming recession in 2024.)
Maybe it was because we were so busy or because we were working such long hours this holiday season, but I was undoubtedly more sensitive to crazy requests in our store. If someone would have requested a frozen, dairy free, vegan crust Gooseberry pie with gooseberries handpicked by virgin maids in a forest, I LITERALLY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PHASED. Ask anyone in retail, but in general, people have more expectations and less patience. Good times.
Finally, when I called Jeanne this morning around 9:30, she asked how the morning was going and If we had a lot of orders. I reminded her we weren’t actually open today…we reopen on Thursday of this week. And she actually thought today was Thursday. There’s nothing wrong with her at all except she is completely unbothered by literally everything. She doesn’t know what day it is because it doesn’t matter to her. And when we met our goal, she expected no less while I made myself sick over what might what happen. While that quality in her used to make me so mad that I could hardly stand it, now I sort of aspire to it on some level. May we all have the bliss of a 2024 where we don’t even care if it is Wednesday or if it is Thursday…