David J. Danto

Business travel thoughts in my own, personal opinion

eMail: ddanto@IMCCA.org Follow Industry News: @NJDavidD

NOT Traveling Blog, 3^rd Week Of December 2020

Christmas In August - Crazy Eddie Was Right!

David Danto’s ongoing list of disjointed and occasionally random observations and thoughts as we wait-out the pandemic – mostly NOT traveling like we used to.

Having a dangerous, awful holiday season is 2020 being peak 2020 – and a dangerous, awful holiday season is most definitely upon us. Just the other day, Dr. Fauci warned that in the US, “we have not yet seen the post-Thanksgiving peak” of infections resulting from all the travel that happened – despite the advice to stay home. That peak will apparently come just as people are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and then the New Year’s Eve holiday. Just about everyone will want to rejoice about the end of 2020, but the thought of all the covidiots ignoring the need to remain socially isolated and getting together at super-spreader events is very frightening. The vaccines have brought us the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, but – as the old joke goes – that light could likely be a freight train headed straight for us. PLEASE resist the urge to get together with family and friends for the holidays at big celebrations, and instead keep this a low-key holiday for yourself and your immediate family.

Actually, I have a great idea about this. Old New Yorkers like me remember the consumer electronics chain Crazy Eddie. (The stories of this company are legendary, and in fact are the subject of an episode of Masterminds – available to view on Amazon Prime – which told real crime stories about amazing deceptions that brilliant criminals used to pull off seemingly impossible crimes…and Crazy Eddie’s founder, Eddie Antar, was accused of quite a bit of stealing…but that is all off my main point.) Crazy Eddie ran a series of television commercials (with their usual pitchman Jerry Carrol boasting that their prices were “insane”) which touted their “Christmas In August” sales. Watch one of them below:

I didn’t need to watch it again now on YouTube to remember the words of this commercial– they’re burned into my brain:

Its August…the sun is glaring…the streets are sweltering…the air is hot and sticky…and that means it time for Crazy Eddie’s Christmas sale!

Well, after a year like 2020 – one that can truly be described to be as “insane” as Crazy Eddie’s prices – I propose that we make Christmas in August a reality for 2021. By then, hopefully, COVID19 vaccines will be well distributed and will lead to significant immunity levels. People will be able to once again travel, socialize and celebrate as appropriate. Let’s postpone our usual end of year celebrations right now, and have a real blow-out in August – with people, presents, parties, parades, and all of the things that we are being deprived of at the end of 2020. I’m really serious here.

If all goes as planned, Wednesday August 25^th, 2021 should officially be designated the “End Of Pandemic Celebration Day.” It should be a secular holiday, a day off of work, a day to rejoice in the ability to hug friends and family, share the meals and celebrations we were not allowed to have in 2020, and, mourn all of the losses that will probably never lose their sting – but at least be able to do so in the company of friends and loved ones.

Someone please let me know where the global suggestion box is. I’ll be happy to stuff a copy of this article into it. You can help by forwarding a link to this blog to your company’s HR team. Tell them I won’t even charge them for stealing my idea. After all, it was originally Crazy Eddie’s idea, not mine, and this could in some small way make up for all the stealing their founder seems to have been accused of.

As always, please feel free to write to me with comments or items I should add to a future Not Traveling blog (or if you just need someone to write to.) Stay safe, be well, hug those you’re sheltering with (but no one else) and do your best to stay positive. We’re going to be in this for a while longer.

This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions.

All image and links provided above as reference under prevailing fair use statutes.

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The Explanation for my Not Traveling blogs: In 2014 I was voted by USA Today readers as one of the top ten business travel bloggers in the USA. Now mind you, I turned out to be number ten on the list of ten, but I did make it on (with my thanks to all those who voted.) Now that we’re all stuck at home and not traveling, I had to think about what to do with my blogs. I could stop writing them entirely – waiting till we all get through the current COVID19 pandemic / crisis. I could wax nostalgic and/or complain about past trips. Or, I could focus all of my efforts on my day job – growing the use of collaboration technologies – especially in light of how many people are now forced to use those tools for the first time. In reflecting upon those choices, what I decided to do is compile an ongoing list of observations during the crisis. Some of these may amuse, some may inform, some may sadden and others may help. My goal will be for you to have seen something in a different light than you did before you stopped to read the blog. I was going to apologize for how disjointed these thoughts may seem when put together, but then it dawned on me that feeling disjointed is our new normal – at least for a little while.