Today’s message may require a little explanation. But first, I will share the catalyst that prompted my thoughts.

My wife received an email the other day with birthday wishes from a doctor she once visited. That, in and of itself, might have been considered as a nice gesture. The last time she saw this doctor was when she was living in New Jersey… and that was twelve years ago. Isn’t it amusing how computers can recollect important dates once an assistant finally gets back in front of an outdated database and hits the merge button with a pertinent “reminder?”

Obviously, the cockles of her heart were not warmed that…

Everything changes with COVID. In the biggest whack the world economy ever took, millions of businesses were knocked flat, with their revenues cut off cold, just hoping to hang on to survive the storm. So, it was good to speak to Jeff Roy, the executive vice president of Collette, the century old tour operator of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and hear him say, “It’s going really well. We’re happy with it.”

Some context here. Obviously, Collette, a major tour operator that takes thousands of people a year to seven continents, took a serious blow this year. There was no way it could continue its normal operations.

Like nearly all tour operators Collette had to curtail virtually all travel when COVID hit last March, just as the heavy summer…