Hospitality is always a two-way street. You just set yourself up to have a better time at restaurants, bars or wherever people serve you when you bring a sense of hospitality yourself.
A good attitude, realistic expectations, empathy for the people around you - this all but ensures a richer experience.
Right now, it’s also an imperative, one small acknowledgment that we are all in a crisis and need each other to get out of it.
Just a few weeks ago, it felt like we were rebuilding. But we gave the delta variant room to rampage. So we’re back to taking things one day at a time.
For hospitality businesses, there's the struggle to keep people safe and keep their doors open. After such a long fight already, many hanging by a thread are fearing the final cut.
So now there is a statewide mask mandate everywhere in Louisiana, and for some a proof-of-vaccination requirement.
Both moves have brought what is diplomatically called “pushback.” What this really means is people taking out the frustrating burden of misinformation on people who are trying to keep going, and keep serving you.
Steep in the cesspool of social media outrage around this, and the divide seems beyond repair. But put yourself back in the real world again, and you see something different.
What I see when I actually visit these places are people striving to keep going.
I’ve also seen people showing up with their masks on without anyone having to ask and with their vaccination cards ready at the places where they will be asked. I see an appreciation that none of this is normal but is part of how we’re trying to climb out of this. And I see gratitude for that effort.
That’s what it looks like when we return just a bit of care to the people taking care of us. It’s not difficult and it’s not divisive. In New Orleans, it should be second nature. It is called hospitality.
