OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2020
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
Attitude matters during an unusual holiday season
A
nyone who has had chil-
dren, younger siblings or
nieces and nephews has
probably witnessed some variation
of this scene before: A toddler tears
the wrapping paper off a
Christmas present and,
with lots of help from his
or her parents, removes a
toy from its box.
The toy is colorful and
shiny. It lights up, or per- Jade
haps makes sounds, and McDowell
NEWS EDITOR
is designed to be both
educational and fun. The
child’s parents lovingly selected it
and purchased it using their hard-
earned money.
The toddler throws the toy on
the ground without a second glance
and spends the next 20 minutes hap-
pily playing with the cardboard box
instead.
It’s unfortunate that as we get
older, many of us become less con-
tent with the simple things in life.
“The holidays” as we like to call
them — Thanksgiving, Christmas,
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s
and the rest — can easily end up add-
ing stress to our lives as we become
convinced that the holiday will be
ruined if we don’t make elaborate
feasts and check all 17 family tradi-
tions off the list.
If ever there was a time to let go of
that idea, it’s this year.
I’m not saying don’t have any hol-
iday traditions, but I am advocating
for using the Marie Kondo method
of asking, “Does this spark joy?”
If you’re sewing new matching red
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
A phone records the city of Hermiston’s livestreamed Christmas tree lighting event in
downtown Hermiston on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020.
and green pajama pants for everyone
in the family to wear on Christmas
Eve because you love doing it, great.
If you’re stressing out over when
you’re going to fi nd time to make
yourself crank them out because
“this is what we’ve always done,”
stop. Give yourself permission to
say, “That was a fun tradition while it
lasted, but we can still enjoy time our
together as a family even if our paja-
mas don’t match.”
Most of my family’s holiday tra-
ditions were pretty standard when
I was growing up, but I’m pretty
sure we are the only family in the
world that had a tradition of eating at
Burger King on Christmas Eve every
year.
It started as a simple matter of
practicality. We always decorated
and delivered Christmas cookies to
friends on Christmas Eve and after
all the baking and packaging and
cleaning up my parents didn’t have
the energy to cook a meal when we
got back home. When we were very
young, Burger King was the only
restaurant open on Christmas Eve in
our small Iowa town.
After we had eaten there for a few
years in a row, however, it was “tra-
COLUMN
dition.” Once we moved to a big-
ger town and more restaurants were
open on Christmas Eve, my parents
tried to persuade us to eat somewhere
else. But, my siblings and I insisted,
it was tradition. Finally, one year, the
last of us gave in, and we ate at Den-
ny’s that year instead. It turned out
that you could still enjoy that magical
sense of anticipation about the pres-
ents under the tree without eating a
Whopper.
This year, a lot of community hol-
iday traditions in Hermiston look dif-
ferent, and I’m sure pandemic restric-
tions or self-imposed caution are also
requiring adjustments to previous
family traditions. Some families are
also entering this season with signifi -
cantly less money and more stressors
than they are used to.
So here’s the deal: We can be
sour and bitter about it, complain-
ing loudly that the pandemic has
“ruined” our favorite holidays and
setting a negative tone for those
around us, including the children
who will take their cues from the
adults in their lives.
Or we can focus on the things that
are most important to us and show
some creativity in fi nding ways to
put those things at the forefront.
Like a toddler laughing over a card-
board box, sometimes the best mem-
ories come from letting go of what an
experience “should” be and fi nding
joy in the moment.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
Do you have adequate cash reserves?
I
’m sure many have heard
the phrase “Cash is King.”
Having adequate sav-
ings not only protects a busi-
ness from unexpected crises
like we have been experiencing
for the past several months, but
can reduce an everyday emer-
gency to an easily solvable
problem or mere
inconvenience.
While
the
COVID-19 pan-
demic has neg-
atively affected
many
busi-
nesses, this has
not been the Greg
case for every Smith
owner.
Some
of those we have surveyed
report that sales are similar to
last year or even record-break-
ing sales, and a percentage of
those are considering expand-
ing their operations.
There are several reasons
for this. Perhaps they were
able to quickly pivot, as in the
case of some restaurants that
rapidly expanded their takeout
capabilities.
Other types of businesses
shifted to online platforms
to maintain or increase sales.
Some, like grocery stores,
greenhouses, and hardware
stores found themselves in the
right business at the right time,
benefi tting from high demand
for their goods and services
despite the shutdown. Cer-
tainly, the Paycheck Protection
and Economic Injury Disas-
ter Loan programs provided an
important lifeline, as well.
In most cases, the num-
ber one reason businesses are
weathering and even thriving
during this storm is because
they saved enough money to
pay three to six months of their
expenses even though sales
dwindled.
It is more important than
ever that cash reserves be
established and replenished.
To ensure adequate savings,
owners should consider it a
fi xed expense.
The adage “Pay Yourself
First” comes into play. Money
should be placed in a sepa-
rate account and a guide estab-
lished to address what consti-
tutes an emergency specifying
when those funds are to be uti-
lized. Savings should always
be replenished as quickly
as possible to ensure ade-
quate cash is available to meet
expenses.
Owners shouldn’t be dis-
couraged when they realize the
large sum of money needed to
have adequate savings. Even
a few hundred dollars saved
monthly can add up in a year,
and any amount saved is better
than none.
Those businesses that have
seen record sales need to be
cautious, because as the econ-
omy returns to “normal,” sales
may decrease to pre-COVID
levels. Owners should cur-
tail spending, build up their
reserves, and revisit their busi-
ness plans monitoring cash
fl ow and sales projections.
Finally, entrepreneurs con-
sidering starting a business
should refl ect on the types
of businesses and industries
that have been successful and
the likely reasons they are
rebounding during this crisis.
Start-ups need to make cer-
tain they are not undercapi-
talized, and might consider
waiting for the economy to sta-
bilize prior to launching their
business.
———
Greg Smith is the execu-
tive advisor for the Umatilla
Electric Cooperative Business
Resource Center in Hermis-
ton, which offers free, confi den-
tial advising to area business
owners.
U.S. PRESIDENT
DONALD TRUMP
STATE REP. GREG SMITH,
DISTRICT 57
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
whitehouse.gov/contact/
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Email: Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
———
U.S. SENATORS
RON WYDEN
221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande offi ce: 541-962-7691
•
JEFF MERKLEY
313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton offi ce: 541-278-1129
———
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 48
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Kelly Schwirse | Multi-Media consultant • kschwirse@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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———
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CORRECTIONS
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
———
STATE SEN. BILL HANSELL,
DISTRICT 29
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