Zombie Mode

It happens every season; I try to mingle with the masses, the visiting tourists and island folk. Then there comes a point where I disconnect and go into the zombie mode; minimal interaction with people outside my office, only moving between work and home, waiting for the island to empty out from the occupying invaders.

I understand that the island, as well as my livelihood, depends on these people that run amok in our streets, wandering down the middle of Main Street in traffic, riding bikes against traffic on one-way streets and littering all the while. The 8 to 10 weeks of chaos provide the financial boost that keeps budgets balanced, for the most part.

Each consecutive year, since the year I arrived, the seasons have seemed to be shorter. Not from the standing point of nature, mind you, but rather the influx of business from the seasonal visitors. The season began in late April, just after Easter but before the crisp nights left the island. The slow build would peak Memorial Day weekend, then explode into the weekend heading into the Fourth of July. From there, the season would bulge at the seams until Labor Day weekend, when a sense of reason would return. The Columbus Day weekend would mark the closing of many businesses until the next spring. Generally the season was 16 weeks long.

Thirteen seasons later, and I’m looking at maybe six good weeks this summer. I told many people that this might be the determining season whether or not I keep the office. If the current trend holds for this year, I will have no choice but to close the office. The stress involved in this entire business-owner thing is bad enough when it is busy and there are things that need to be done, but when there is no business to tend to, the stress is even worse. Perhaps that is the reason that I find the need to disconnect sooner each year, to maintain my sanity.

I have written about this tendency before, but as I have waded deeper into social media I have found it easier to maintain a one-sided line of communication. The "delete" button gives me my fix: erasing emails, texts, instant messages and entire posts on my various news feeds. Still, with every year I make new acquaintances that will wonder where I have gone to. The answer is simple. I am in survival mode, a semi-conscious state of moving through the day in order to make it to the other side of September. Ask any other island business owner, they can relate.

So here it is, just past the ides of July and I have made the transition into zombie mode. A week or more earlier than last year, but then again, this July has been brutal. Aside from the business numbers taking a nose dive, my health has been horrible; I had been dealing with some muscle injuries, but an intestinal virus of some sort nearly had me down for the count. Now I just need to make it through the next six to seven weeks without collapsing.

For those of you that have seen me being social for the past few weeks, around the island or online, be forewarned: I’m about to make myself real scarce. See you in September.