Heartbrea and Hope

MBWA= Management by walking around. Project managers who spend too much time in their office trailer are the ones who tend to miss issues early when they are small and easy to fix.

I encourage everyone to review the burp scene from the movie Elf. Culture in its highest form.

Heartbreak and Hope Ch.14

An overload of Christmas

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Damn, I love The Cornwall Islands.

I know, I know. I've said it far too much.

Besides the normal everyday which is extraordinary by itself, you could feel the air of excitement in the days preceding Christmas Season. The people here lived their dreams and that air of the upcoming month-long celebration was something I never experienced even before the economy in the US imploded. Even the adults felt it like kids again and though I had been involved with the crews putting up decorations and getting The Christmas Market ready, I felt it too. It was like when I was a small child before my father died and I could not wait for Christmas.

This was bigger, MUCH bigger and it was everywhere!

The decorations around The Central Fountain and West Park were installed though not switched on yet, waiting for the official launch tonight. The Christmas Market was in place though they would not open until half past six that evening. It was all set to go and the electricity in the air made me smile.

The twenty fifth of November was not a holiday for day shift jobs as the official season started at six that evening. I was at work a bit early looking to head out to my project after grabbing my Ipad off my desk when I met Gemma at the base of the stairs carrying a big box and wearing a big smile. She looked at me with a bit of a quizzical expression and asked, "Where are your decorations?"

She saw my confusion then clucked at me, "Today is a work day but it isn't."

She sighed, "Joshua, I love your diligence, but honestly, you are already getting high marks for your one year review. Relax already! Go do whatever you absolutely must get done then get your ass over to St. Ives Marketplace or SOMEPLACE and get yourself some decorations for your cubicle. Today is a celebration and that includes work hours. Best decorating wins prizes and there are a ton of categories!"

Can The Cornwall Islands get any better? It seems unlikely, but somehow I know they will.

My task for the day was pretty easy. Head on over to the West Park and my Tram Station and do my usual MBWA. Well, that turned out to be a waste as it was empty, and yeah, no one in my crew was working today. So much for that, so I decided to walk through The Christmas Market as a favor to my wife just to make sure I didn't see any issues. I stopped by Eric and Shelby's spot just to say hello and saw just about the coolest Christmas ornament I have ever seen. There may not have been many St Ives Island workers, but the booth operators were all preparing for the big rush.

Eric was holding a Christmas ornament and looking at it intently. He hooked a wire to it and smiled. The fucking thing lit up inside!

I walked up and said, "Holy shit that's cool!"

He looked up and smiled at me, "Even better!"

It was clear he was proud of his wife's work, "Shelby came up with some amazing designs. We 3d print the scenes then attach them to 80 millimeter fillable Christmas ornament halves. Wiring up the LEDs is a pain, but we have the assembly down to just under ten minutes each. Turns out, my mom is a wizard at soldering. Shelby does the painting and my dad and I ran the 3D printers and did logistical stuff like boxing."

I was looking at this amazing Christmas ornament. It looked like a standard ornament but part of the front half was missing and in its place was a 3D printed miniature indoor Christmas Tree with presents under it. The Christmas tree had 8 micro LED lights on it and they lit the fuck up! It was attached to a tiny control board and a USB-C connector to a standard cell phone charger pack that was painted Christmas Tree green.

I was happy for them and I knew a winner when I saw it, "This has to be the coolest Christmas ornament I have ever seen. I can't wait to buy one myself."

He smiled and shook his head, "Your wife in particular has been a friend to us. It's hard living on top of my parents since they were evicted and moved in, but it cuts monthly expenses in half and my dad did manage to get a job at a defense contractor in their warehouse. I won't take your money and in fact, have one of each."

There were five scenes; The Christmas Tree, Santa's Sleigh on a rooftop, A big outdoor tree, A flying Santa Sleigh, and lit wreath. No other word fits: EPIC!

He looked at me with a bit of fear, "I sure hope these things sell. We've put everything into this market. We did bring our standard offerings from the summer market just to help cover costs."

I knew damn well that he had nothing to worry about and I reassured him, "I think you have a hit on your hands."

I thanked them both profusely for the decorations then placed the treasures into my car and texted my wife that I was headed to St. Ives Marketplace because today was not much of a workday and I had to decorate my cubicle then get back for some workplace celebrations. She texted back to come pick her up as she had been lectured about Christmas being a big thing and had to do the same. Today's 'work' day had pretty much zero actual work.

We headed straight to St. Ives Marketplace and didn't have a lot of time so got right to it, picking up some of the more mundane things at Walmart and nicer stuff at John Lewis, Lowes, and a place we had never been inside named The Range. St. Ives Marketplace had all that we needed and we were done by half past ten and headed back where I dropped Jennifer off after hoofing her boxes into her workplace for her and giving her three of the five decorations from Eric and Shelby. No one at Jones and Cranston Meats was doing anything particularly useful and people were decorating and bullshitting.

Once back at work, I brought my own boxes in and headed to my cubicle. It was festive as you could feel the happiness in the air as everyone did the same; decorated and talked with people while Christmas music was played on the overhead speaker system. I decorated the front of my cubicle with a shallow arbor then put garlands and lights plus a bunch of typical ornaments and lights all along the edges. I placed one of the green battery packs inside the arbor frame and one each of the lit ornaments on each side at eye level then turned them on.

I kept the best looking ornament for myself. The Christmas Tree one and also kept the wreath one. Yes, I gave my wife three ornaments and kept two. I'm not dumb! I did keep the coolest ornament for my cubicle. I'm not a doormat either.

Lunch was catered from Kroger and yes, they did a nice job on the roast beef, chicken and vegan sandwiches. Two in the afternoon was judging time and I won a ten dollar Bianchi's Pizza gift card for nicest individual decoration. Yeah, the lit Christmas Tree ornament from Eric and Shelby's booth was judged the best.

I could have told you that this morning!

I won the award for best decorated cubicle of the 2020 hires and was pointed to a table to pick my prize from among those on the tabletop. There was a pile of ten dollar gift cards to pick from and I chose Burger Whirled. I won two others for guessing the number of M&Ms in a big glass container and one a pure chance drawing from a punchbowl. I also got to keep the giant container of M&Ms that I had correctly guessed.

We were let out of work an hour early as had my wife who just wanted to hang out around town. That sounded great and most places along The Central Fountain were doing brisk, almost manic trade. It wasn't even official yet and the atmosphere was electric with happiness and laughter everywhere! We just took in the scene and let the happiness overwhelm us.

I looked at my wife as we simply walked around and took in the festive air. Her smile... bliss. This Christmas is the starkest possible contrast to the year before.

No shock that we had dinner at Burger Whirled. I finally got to try the Jamaican Jerk Fries with my burger and the list of things I wanted to try again that was already hopelessly long grew by one. Again.

Afterward, we headed into West Park and saw the stall owners getting ready for the big launch after the opening ceremony. The market was roped off, but both Jennifer and I had market worker passes so we entered and explored. Jennifer's shipping container idea was genius and from the front or any of the covered sides, you would never know they were twenty foot shipping containers with faux wooden fronts and sides which we could then store inside the containers in the off season then stack those containers in a container yard at the freight port.

Damn my wife did an awesome job! OVER THREE HUNDRED STALLS on five separate 'lanes' with eating areas and decorations and Christmas trees scattered about! forty-four of the stalls had handicrafts from abroad representing twenty-one countries. forty-two had exotic foods from abroad and the whole thing of working around food regulations worked perfectly by having the foreign food booths purchase their raw ingredients from our domestic suppliers. Everybody won!

The sights. The smells. Wondrous.

It was getting close to the time of the official launch of the season so we headed to The Central fountain at fifteen until six and the whole Central Fountain area. What a sight! It was packed with people and the scene was one of happy excitement. Young, old, in between... It did not matter and smiles were everywhere.

At two minutes to six, the largest central fountain pump shot a big column of water into the air and at a minute until six a laser projected an image onto the surface of the water: 1:00, :59, :58... You get the idea. At six... FUCK the whole damn place lit up with lights and decorations and magic and the masses cheered the start of The Christmas Season.

The center stage lit up and Charles Hall spoke, "WELCOME TO CHRISTMAS SEASON!"

The cheering was loud, VERY loud.

Charles waited then continued, "This will be my last year with my privilege of launching our annual festival. Anna Clarke will be Prime Minister as of March fifteenth. I want to thank everyone involved as both times I got to start this have been special to me."

"I won't bore you with a long windy speech. Just some thanks before our brief Christmas Season Launch mini concert. First I want to thank Ed Williamson, the Tourism Minister who works hard every year to make the Christmas Season the most enjoyable it can be. I also want to thank Barbara Billing who is the Director of Tourism in charge of the celebrations near the Central Fountain. Barbara, the decorations this year are even better than last. I can't wait for the nightly Christmas laser and music shows! That being said, Barbara has a sad announcement. Barbara..."

Barbara is a fiftyish red haired woman who walked up to the podium and said, "We have the end of an era this year. This is the last year that Ellen Montgomery organized the Christmas Market and she left with a bang and the biggest market ever! I want to thank her with a plaque and sincere thanks for her twenty nine years organizing the markets."

Ellen was prepared and waiting at the side of the stage as she walked up the stairs with some help from Charles Hall. Ellen smiled and started, "I'll keep this brief. First, thank you. I love my country and this was simply my way of giving back to the place I grew up in, had a life I loved and raised a family here. I look back and have no regrets. A life well lived is the best life story one can have and I certainly have had such a life."

There was cheering and she waited then continued, "That being said. Yes this is the biggest and I would dare say best ever market by a mile. More than doubling the size of the largest markets perhaps about fifteen years ago and I thank you for all the cheers."

There was more cheering and she waited.

"I had almost nothing to do with it."

There was now stunned silence.

"It would be a gross injustice if I were to take credit for this market. Let's not deny reality. I am eighty and I am tired and the last few markets have been underwhelming. I was so tired and no one was brave enough to tell me that, trying to spare my feelings. Last Christmas I realized it when it was the smallest market since the early 1980s and I asked Charles to look around and replace me when he saw the opportunity. Perhaps it is fate as he found someone who took the role then crushed it."

She smiled, "I had the absolute privilege to meet a young woman with extraordinary intelligence and that was combined with a heart as big as the islands and creativity I haven't seen in a very long time. This market isn't mine. I only advised her and made sure she followed the laws about transparency and keeping things legal. This market is hers and hers alone and it easily eclipses the best market I ever arranged. Jennifer, I know you are out there somewhere in this crowd. Honey. Come up to the stage and take your bow. You deserve it."

Jennifer just stood there. I took her hand and started walking toward the stage. She had worked like a dog to make it the smash success it was going to be and Damnit! she was going to get her due.

She didn't resist though she trailed me a bit. Shy? I dunno, but she was getting her due. I was so proud of her and the market was magnificent!

Ellen saw us approaching though Jennifer still trailed and she smiled, "Come on Jennifer! This is your market. Take your bow."

Jennifer almost trudged up the stairs and stood next to Ellen then Ellen aimed the microphone at Jennifer. Jennifer just shrugged, "I'm just... me. I'm no one special. I mean. I had help. All the women in our group helped me. Cara created the ads for the webpage. Stephanie helped lay out everything and figure out how big the lanes should be so we could have the utilities behind the booths and not the lanes, Sara and Sophia helped sort out suppliers and made a ton of calls. Jessica and Anna organized the innumerable samples and packages that arrived out of our storage unit. Brianna, Hannah and Lauren did research for me."

I loved that about her, I knew the truth that despite her giving credit, the results were hers. She was good to those who were good to her.

Ellen smiled then took the microphone, shaking her head in disbelief at Jennifer's refusal to take credit for her effort, "Smart, creative, sweet, and humble."

She looked up to the crowd, "And THAT is exactly why the market is a huge success. She lived this project for months and was full of fresh ideas."

There was a lot of cheering. Jennifer smiled, but was quite overwhelmed and simply said, "Thank you and thank you to all those who helped me. It wasn't just me."

Jennifer looked uncomfortable with the accolades so they ended the speeches and walked off the stage as they brought up Trans Siberian Orchestra for a two song launch mini concert as a preview for the one the next day. It was pretty basic as they did not have the full stage setup and almost immediately launched into Faith Noel and then Christmas Canon.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, Charles Hall looked at her and said, "Yeah. It really was pretty much you. And I must pat myself on the back for pushing you into the role."

He smiled in a fatherly manner, "Jennifer. You have no idea how brightly you are shining right now."

Jennifer only shrugged then Charles said. "Jennifer, the hotels and even the campgrounds are full. Three cruise ships are anchored in the Harbor using tenders and ferries to bring passengers in because the Cruise ship piers in town have all four berths filled and normally today have two or three docked. Most of the people are going to your market and more importantly the whole idea of having extra cruises arrive tonight was yours. You try to deflect, but I was at the meeting where you suggested it. Barbara and I were just taking notes as fast as we could write as all those ideas came spilling out of your head.

"Yes, others arranged the logistics and details, but this is going to be our biggest Christmas Market yet by far and it is because of you. Stand tall because we have around eighty thousand guests on St Ives Island when the normal number today was perhaps around forty to fifty. The cruise ship idea and the campground idea were both brilliant. Normally, we would have only filled the hotels. We have two extra container ships landing next week alone bringing extra food and supplies and just... stuff for our guests that we are going to need."

He shook his head then smiled, "And still humble. Over the next 30 days, a million people, both islanders and guests, are going to have the time of their lives between today and Christmas and you created part of it. A million people are going to see your market. Think about that. A million."

He smiled at her fondly then chuckled and said, "I'm meeting my family to wander. Have a great evening, you earned it."

He took two steps and turned with a mischievous smile, "Oh, Jennifer."

She nodded, "Yeah?"

Charles teased, or maybe not, "I expect you will top this one, next year. We need at least six lanes in The Christmas Market and there are room for up to eight" He smirked, turned and walked away with his family.

The mini concert started and Jennifer finally let go, smiled, and admitted to herself she had crushed it. SHE had crushed it. MY wife... had been given a huge project and crushed it!

It was a mass of people either listening to the two song mini concert or heading to the Christmas market right at half past six. We headed to Christmas Tree Lane where Eric and Shelby already had a two deep line of people with items in their hands and their wallets out! I just stopped dead and took it in and Jennifer looked at me quizzically until I said, "Would you just look at this! You did this Jennifer! YOU... did this!"

The lights, the booths, smiles everywhere. One side had several booths that had mulled wine while one from Germany had real German sausages in types that were not normally available on the islands. On the other side was a place selling handicraft Christmas Pyramids and another was run by Jamaicans doing a brisk trade in Jamaican Jerk Chicken. She smiled and yes, this was me feeding her ego. Her work was nothing short of magnificent. Her Christmas Market.... HER Christmas Market was an overwhelming success.

And it was still filling up!

She smiled then kissed me and hugged me close, "Thank you Joshua. Your support means a lot."

I hugged her, "Love you!"

She relaxed in my embrace then backed away, smiled and repeated the words, "Love you. You have no idea how much right now."

We were walking through the growing crowd when Shelby called out to us as we neared her and her husband's booth, "Jennifer!"

Shelby came out with the biggest happy smile and handed her a Christmas card, "I know it's not much, but we don't have much. Eric will be heading back on Monday as he has run out of vacation time and I will be staying the duration and his mom is taking his place. Still. Thank you. I want you to know this is making all the difference for us."

She immediately went back to taking sales as her line started growing. Their regular ornaments were a hit, but their lit LED ornaments were a smash hit, even at twenty dollars each and many people were buying complete sets of five. After buying our own home set of five in addition to the ones Eric had given me, and a few other more mundane ornaments, we took our leave and left them to their line of eager customers.

The mix of booths was made for a festive air and the smell of the food did nothing but make me hungry. The biggest problem was overwhelming choice and not wanting to eat overwhelming calories. We ended up renting one of the dock lockers normally used for cross harbor shipping as we bought nine hundred dollars worth of handicraft Christmas stuff and perhaps after some mulled wine and a beer and... nevermind... driving back was a bad idea and we left our cars in the lot overnight.