Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is fraught with supply chain issues, a concern as the holiday shopping frenzy takes hold. We hear stories of goods sitting for weeks in shipping containers. I wanted to buy flowers for friends but when I visited the local florist, I found the shelves picked bare. All that remained were a few unwanted plants with their withered leaves, a sight that filled me with sadness. My wife tells me that, at her office, they’re running low of the usual supplies, paper, staples, sticky tabs, that sort of thing. Bars can’t offer exotic drinks for the holidays because delivery of liqueurs like Compari and Schnapps is delayed by up to six weeks.
So it’s a surprise to watch a guy push a hand truck loaded with boxes. Evidently, not all supply chains are created equal. The gears of commerce still grind on. Minutes later, the same guy passes through my frame minus his boxes. He’s like Santa Claus, and somewhere up the street, a local retailer is dancing a jig.
Speaking of Santa Claus, I wonder how the man in red manages supply chain issues for his workshop. Is he going to be skimping on his deliveries this year? Or does he have a dedicated pipeline to source materials?
