Because I wasn’t hungry at noon and I had a 1pm meeting, I delayed getting lunch until 2pm. Usually that is fine because at 2pm, all sorts of food serving places are still open. It’s 2pm not 2am. Also, I wanted a sandwich today for lunch and my favourite local sandwich place is open until 3pm.
I walked to said sandwich place and got there around 2:15pm. It’s very popular and there’s usually at least one or two people outside the ordering window, waiting for their sandwich. Today, from about half a block away, I saw there was no one waiting. That was not a good sign. When I got up to the ordering window, there was a sign saying they had to close early today because of a staff shortage. Bummer. I couldn’t get a sandwich from them today. I wound up eating homemade scrambled eggs.
Not able to get some takeout for lunch, I decided I would get takeout for dinner. There is an excellent Japanese restaurant downstairs that makes ramen and Japanese curry. I wanted to get the curry for dinner tonight. I went downstairs and from half a block away, I saw the lights of the restaurant were off. That was not a good sign.
I got to the front door of the restaurant and it said they were sorry but that had to close today because of a staff shortage. In the same message, they said they were hiring wait staff and a broth maker (for the ramen I suppose). Bummer. I was too hungry to think so I just got some sushi nearby instead.
I am hearing what I experienced today is not uncommon. Lots of service-oriented businesses are experiencing trouble retaining or hiring workers. There just seems to be a shortage of everything these days from workers, material goods, common sense, and goodwill towards others. When will all this end?