Most people I have met around the world have been patient and kind.
I am reminding myself to likewise be patient and kind.
Being kind is normal human nature, I would say, and hoteliers abound in this quality, but such qualities are needed now more than ever.
We've had two years and counting of COVID-19. As I write, my wife, Francesca, has just proved negative after 10 days of positive lateral-flow testing. She had no symptoms apart from a cough for a few days and a couple of bouts of nausea, thanks for asking.
With Francesca’s coffee this morning, I also gave her a dark-chocolate orange biscuit made by His Majesty Prince Charles’ Duchy Organics company.
That’s kindness for you.
Two people hoping for kindness are U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak. On April 12, both were found to have broken the lockdown law they set during the height of the pandemic.
As I write, both Johnson and Sunak are under pressure to resign. Both say they will not, with Johnson stating, according to the BBC, “an even greater sense of obligation to deliver” to the British people, which seems to me a curious argument, closing the doors of No. 10 long after the horse has bolted.
No time in history is without drama, of course, but recently there certainly have been many more slides down snakes than there have been climbs up ladders.
On top of a pandemic, along came the Russian invasion of Ukraine and rising energy and gasoline prices and other inflationary pressures.
But everything right now is coming at a time when the public is at its most eager to travel and stay in hotels.
The sense of entitlement nearly all of us feel in such situations, after 25 months of a pandemic, can easily boil into frustration, anger and disbelief.
Those who have not been on a holiday for three years, those whose weddings have been postponed on several occasions, those who cannot find a venue for a wedding, those … well, the list is a long one, isn’t it?
Ongoing long, slow airport security lines at Manchester Airport have led to people reacting crossly lately, and now the U.K. government’s Home Office has warned people to allow up to 10 weeks to have new passports administered.
I love the forward-thinking scheme some kind soul dreamed up a few years back in which passport holders could send in their passports for renewal six months before they expired and be given a new passport with the usual 10 years provided, plus those “lost” six months, so that those acting proactively are not penalized.
The Home Office said, “Due to COVID-19, [Her Majesty’s] Passport Office saw a significant drop in the number of people applying for passports, with over 5 million people delaying their applications throughout 2020 and 2021. But with international travel returning to normal, more and more people are applying for a new passport.”
People are traveling. That's great news for hoteliers.
Here is the link to apply for a U.K. passport if you need one by early July.
Just be kind and patient with the civil servants processing it for you.
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