By: Adrian Esqueda, Chief Financial Officer | 05/07/2021 |

An Era is defined as a long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic.

It would be an understatement to say that we have been in a distinct period of time since March of 2020 when the world was formally introduced to COVID 19.  Since that time, many of us have been living with face masks, social distancing, working at home and hand cleaners. Many of us traded our daily commutes to the office with a short walk to our home office or the kitchen table, sometimes in our pajamas and a baseball hat. It seemed awkward at first but we managed and we found a way to make it work because we had no choice. Other things changed like no more live concerts or sporting events, dining out and definitely no hand shaking.

Fast forward to April 2021 and millions of people globally are being vaccinated daily and in some states, we are starting to see a return back to normal.  As we see a potential ‘ post-COVID-19 Pandemic era’ where this disease does not control so many aspects of our lives, we will definitely be in a new era with its own particular characteristic.  Restaurants and businesses are starting to re-open, sporting events with actual fans are being planned and other entertainment venues are starting to entertain again – at least to smaller crowds.  Many of us will be returning to work in the near term, where we may need to take an elevator with our co-workers or meet new people and have that awkward introduction where we do not shake hands.  We may wonder to ourselves who has and who has not been vaccinated.  Some of us will return to work full time, some will have an opportunity for a hybrid work schedule and commute to the office a few times a week or some of us may never return back to the office.  Regardless, we will make it work again.

The British had a motivational phrase in the 1930’s which was ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’.

In this new era, I think we should all keep that in mind; keep calm and carry on, stay safe and do the best we can daily.