Back to work special…
What has just happened, really what has just happened to the world, the last few months have been history in the making, never in a million years did we foresee this coming, never in our whole life would we have imagined that our hands would consume more alcohol than our mouths.
Taken from an extract I saw recently… The ups and downs of the pandemic. One day you’re loving your bubble, going for walks, baking cakes, and pottering in the garden, the next you’re having gin for breakfast, eating party rings, and missing people you don’t even like. We have seen IKEA share its famous Swedish meatball recipe, We have watched in awe when the whole world appreciated with clap for the carers, all those who generate love and compassion from their doorstep – now we applaud you. Personal messages of thanks left on dustbins for the waste
collecting crew, impromptu renditions of song from doctors still wearing scrubs and protective mask, we got squirrel picnic tables.
Recently we have watched friends and family create a love hate relationship with tiktok, we have watched our nearest and dearest make cooking videos to put Gino to shame, we have been more involved with Zoom than Fat Larry’s band – quizzes that have glued families together, and on the other hand been the cause of many a heated discussion, – but it’s all been good in lockdown, dig deep, go to the reserve of patience, if not see above ‘gin for breakfast’ it’s always a good second option. We saw the whole world unite with singing and dancing on their balconies, in gardens and on streets, rainbows in windows, and acts of kindness in every shape and form.
The last few months we have been involved in a cycle of panic buying, stock piling, closure of businesses, small and corporate, restaurants came to a standstill, concerts were empty, schools and public transport grinded to a halt. Like with most events in life, there are positive and negative outcomes. A virus which came out the blue causing devastation, spreading to over 200 countries, cancelling the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Glastonbury, Cannes film festival – closing the Great Wall of China, and Mount Everest. Isolation was like the reset button had been pressed on the world, back to factory settings. Birdsong, dolphins in the Venetian canals, nesting hummingbirds on the houses of Vancouver’s west end, bobcats in Calgary, and baboons peering into
windows of homes in Cape town. Isolation, and lockdown has unlocked the magic of nature. The natural world has brought peace and sanity to the public in these uncertain times. Less traffic
equals more wildlife. Reduced cutting of grass verges in both urban and rural settings, has made way for wildlife to bloom. Who’s actually the virus here?
WE’VE NEVER HAD A BETTER CHANCE TO MAKE A GREENER WORLD THAN RIGHT NOW.
We personally have found the whole scenario to be a big shake up to our general behaviour, we have talked more as a team at Beauty Box, we have missed enormously our customer contact. We started to offer a delivery service – and took products and gifts to their homes. One of our very much valued customers had had her weekly video call to her local friends and saw the effect it was all having on them – so she called us, and we put together several gift bags, with feel good products in them. All were hand delivered with a little note – acts of kindness were holding the whole world together. We connected with our customers on a much more personal level and did the odd bit of food shopping for those who were vulnerable and high risk. Things which came from the heart, we sent out messages, not about appointments, but about wellbeing, messages of encouragement fondest love, and care.
SO, HOW HAS IT BEEN? HOW IS IT BEING BACK AT WORK.
With the rest of England still sleeping, France made the baby steps of reawakening, coming out of confinement, even with a specific name deconfinement …
We were uncertain, excited and a good dose of anxiousness too – was it too soon? Are customers ready? Are WE ready? Is the world ready? None of this we knew, nobody knew, it was a suck it and see situation. The orders started to come in, industrial supplies of clearing products, daily bulk supplies of non-thrilling items, our new essentials, plastic gloves and shoe covers, face masks and alcohol (not the good type) Physically of course we were ready, emotionally …who knows! Social distancing is the word on the street right now, we need to practice this for sure, this is our new safety blanket –
RE OPENING OF THE BEAUTY SALON
Intrepid steps were made by the first few customers but were soon very promptly put at ease with our new normal. The squirts of hand sanitizer were welcomed, everybody’s new best friend, in cars, handbags and lives of young and old, worldwide. Mask wearers outweighed the non-mask wearers, this became a new mark of respect, it was protection and solidarity, but sadly it also became a camouflage of faces, it hid smiles, emotion, and it made a different kind of barrier – this one we really didn’t like at all. Being unable to sit with our customers, share stories, share fear, trials and tribulations of the last few months, missing the hugs, unable to offer the physical contact which was evidently a huge loss in some people’s lives, was debilitating. This made it feel like the heart had been removed from Beauty Box, the same time as the teapot, which we couldn’t use either, with a total ban on offering refreshments, and non-essential chat All chat in out beauty salon is essential – surely??
We simply can’t wait to get our teapot back, … In the teapot, I hope we also find the good humour, the tranquility, the carefree summer spirit, and smiles while are no longer hid under masks. Another extract taken from the streams of motivation and positivity. As business start to reopen, please understand they may have just survived one of the hardest professional and personal challenges they’ve faced. While they’re excited to open, they’re not through the woods yet. There are changes, implications that have been forced on us, and due to lost revenue, lost employees, new policies and protocols, they won’t have the same business they had 2 months ago.We are all doing everything we can to adapt to the situation, but everything is different for us.
BE PATIENT, BE KIND, BE COMPASSIONATE.
We are still trying to recover from battle number one, and the next battle of rebuilding has just begun.
TO OUR FRIENDS, CUSTOMERS, AND FAMILIES
As soon as this is over, and it will be, we will go to friends’ houses to parties and we will say ‘I love you ‘ more. Through the bad will come good, we won’t take the little things for granted again, during the end of this complicated episode in all our lives, in this moment, facing the tough days, we at Beauty Box, would like to say THANK YOU, to all the people who are supporting us, by sending us love, virtual hugs, and real care and attention. As you know we are so proud to be team Beauty Box we are doing our very best to stay strong, safe and positive. Our philosophy is based on wellbeing and wellbeing has never been as important as it is right now, in these moments. We will still continue to share contents of friends, families and other small business posts, hoping to send positive vibes to all people facing this challenging situation Continue to stay safe, we were all in this together, and we will all come out of it together. Solidarity, safe and soon to be sunshine
Without the rain there would be no rainbow.
In remembrance of Stephen Kay, a true gentleman, and all the others who lost the fight, one of our first customers when opening the salon, taken too soon from his wonderful wife, daughters and family, but forever in our hearts.