I’ve often thought of the messenger business as a canary in a coal mine when it comes to the economy of our country. Delivery services follow very closely the ebb and flow of the greater economic tides. Of course I don’t have any hard and fast data to support my claims, merely years of experience in this business. Thus far in 2008 business has been solid if not exactly stellar. There’s certainly an underlying malaise that seems to be dragging at business in general. I’m not sure if malaise is the right word, maybe “limbo” is more accurate. It just feels like business is waiting on something, for something to happen, for a definitive “something” to occur that will tell us all with some certainty which direction our country is going in. I think this kind of wait and see approach is normal for an election year, particularly one following the end of a 2 term presidency. Add to the uncertainty of our political climate a war, a credit crisis and the probability that consumers have decided to keep their money in their pockets for now, and we have what I’ve dubbed “Limbonomics”. The past is done but whatever the future is, it hasn’t arrived yet.
So what’s this all mean to Jetset Couriers? Well, for one it means an even greater emphasis on an unparalleled level of customer service. It becomes even more important that Jetset sets the standard in our industry for efficiency, friendliness, accuracy and most importantly that we smell good.
One of the underlying tenents of Limbonomics is that spending must be controlled. Until the economy makes and definitive move towards the positive or negative the ducats are horded. Delivery services seem to be the kind of extraneous expense that’s often first hit. The catch-22 of the whole situation is that a steady flow of dollars into the economy, and thus into the greedy coffers of Jetset, could just end up pushing the whole mess into the land of rainbows, sunshine, steady home appreciation and the purchase of new cars. But no one wants to be painted as the shlub that was spending money while the financial ship was going down. Ah, Limbonomics at work.
Ok, on to things I actually know something about. Poetry. I realize this is completely tangential but I’ve really been enjoying this book:
Walking to Martha’s Vineyard by Franz Wright
Wright’s book won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 2003. It’s a powerful, spiritual book (something that the cynic in me tends to shy away from) fed by his time in a mental institution. The poems have variously been described as “tiny jewels formed by blunt ruined fingers” and “haunted and human”. I find them a bit depressing at times, but when he hits a metaphor or image it sounds like a gong being rung inside my head.
And to send you, dear reader, on your way here’s one of the strangest things I’ve seen in a longer while:
