Two scoops of kindness, please
Going for ice cream on a hot summer day is one of life’s simple pleasures.
Perhaps even more so this year, as COVID19 keeps us closer to home and away from crowds. We’re not venturing too far on vacation. We’re not dining inside restaurants as much. And we’re not enjoying some of the traditional sights and sounds of summer — busy beaches, busker festivals, large outdoor concerts, etc.
We still can — and should, for our health and well-being — get out and do many things, but a lot has been shelved for the season and we must constantly consider hand hygiene, masks and social distancing.
In our current reality, the ice cream shop remains a beacon of delight, its products offering a brief, indulgent, dripping reprieve from the toll of the road we’ve travelled and the quiet anxiety of not knowing where we’re heading.
At J.R.’s Pizza and Dairy Bar in Cornwall, P.E.I. recently, the allure of ice cream seems to have intersected with the pressure of pandemic.
An irate customer threw a sundae through a service window at a teenaged employee — a young woman four weeks into her first summer job.
She was still upset 20 minutes later and called Carolyn MacFadyen, owner of the shop.
Feeling a need to say something, MacFadyen took to social media with a now widely shared Facebook post about what happened and why it wasn’t OK.
The owner had no insight into the angry customer’s life, but she told SaltWire Network she has noticed customers are more on edge than they were pre-pandemic.
“I think people are anxious when they come into a restaurant. They’re following the signs, they’re following as best they can the arrows on the floor, but you can sense that people … want to get in and out really quick,” she said.
People working in human resources are noticing such anxiety, too, if only anecdotally.
Chris Montigny, a consultant with HR Atlantic, says outbursts are usually related to COVID-19 regulations.
“It’s not hard for people who work in HR to recognize that our frontline staff members are being asked to do things that aren’t always popular with the public at large.”
There’s a lot about COVID-19 that’s not been popular with any of us. All our lives have been disrupted or inconvenienced.
But there’s one thing we’re all still capable of, a common ability that will help us through until the coronavirus is decrowned.
We’re all able to be kind and patient with each other.
As we go through this, there are days when this can and will be a real challenge.
But when the pressure is about to boil over, take a deep breath and keep kindness and patience in mind. You don’t want to overreact and throw a sundae at a teenager — an action that will cause pain to another person and fuel your inner embarrassment.
Ice cream — and other simple activities or foods that provide comfort and pleasure — offers a short but sweet escape.
Don’t throw things like that away in rage. Be kind to each other and yourself. Be patient. Think about the things that matter.