Right now, America is dealing with a massive labor shortage, significant supply chain issues and an increased cost of daily living. The ramifications of these issues are seen clearly in people’s everyday life. Restaurants have had to cut back on operating hours, some have even had to close down for good, and certain sections of grocery stores are looking bare. People are being advised to order Christmas gifts as soon as possible or as Scott Price, president of UPS said, the gift might not arrive until February or March thanks to supply chain issues.

Gone are the days when packages were placed promptly on people’s front doorstep less than 72 hours after clicking “place order” on their laptops.When someone’s order from Amazon or Etsy takes weeks to come in, or when it feels like it’s taking days for the food at a restaurant to come out, it’s fair to assume that people might be frustrated or impatient about the current circumstances. However, during this time when goods are scant, it’s important to be patient and understanding towards the situation as a whole. 

While the gut reaction to an order getting delayed for the fourth time might be to call the company’s customer service and scream in its customer service representatives’ ear, that doesn’t benefit anyone at all. During this time of long wait times and being put on hold, people must practice patience, compassion and a sense of understanding with everything that is going on. Yelling at hostesses at restaurants or clerks at the grocery store because it’s taking too long for food to come out or because the grocery store ran out of the person’s favorite sports drink is just not okay. Yelling at people doesn’t help expedite the process at all and in some cases, it might slow the process down even more. When things don’t go as planned, people have a choice: to either be a complete nuisance about it and scream at employees for things that are beyond their control, or they can be flexible, patient and understanding, 

One of the main reasons places are so short-staffed is that people have gotten tired of working in extremely harsh conditions while also dealing with entitled c u s t o m e r s who think that the world revolves around them. So, when an employee at an already short-staffed restaurant gets yelled at because it is taking too long to get seated or the waitress forgot to give them a side of ranch promptly, the employee will have even less of a reason to want to keep working at the establishment. 

In addition to being patient, it’s also critical to remember that the labor shortage and supply chain issues have affected pretty much everyone. If someone has ordered something online or has gone to a restaurant in the past couple of months, they have most likely experienced the ramifications of a massive labor shortage and supply chain issues. While each person’s experience can look different from person to person, the overlapping experience is that people are doing a lot more waiting than usual, and it’s incredibly frustrating. 

It’s also important not to blame a group of people for these crises. Multiple factors and moving parts have contributed to this mess that the country is facing right now. It is highly encouraged that people research the causes of supply chain issues and labor shortages before making blanket statements. A quick Google search can help explain and break down the root cause of these issues in a fairly simple and easy-to-understand way. 

Being in situations like this create an opportunity for people to practice patience and empathy. It sounds cheesy to say, but right now the best thing to do is to “look on the bright side of things,” especially given that those Christmas gifts ordered won’t arrive until February or March. According to the New York Times, supply chain issues will be a problem until at least 2022, so it would be beneficial for people to gain a solid sense of these qualities because low supply and delayed arrivals will be the new normal for quite some time. So be patient, don’t yell at the 16-year-old hostess who’s working a minimum wage salary because the wait is taking too long. Be understanding and consider potentially ordering Christmas gifts, right about now.