As I stare out my window this morning, I am reminded of how sometimes things that have become part of the fabric of your day are often taken for granted.
RIP Wally’s Weiner World… the hotdog cart that for decades adorned the corner of High Street and Market Street in West Chester, PA.
Ok I get it, hotdogs are terrible for you. But for the rest of this piece, please suspend your belief about their health value and draw on your nostalgia.
There is something about a hotdog cart hot dog, straight from the water, to the bun. The perfect amount of mustard and relish (if you are into that) or ketchup, or onions, or whatever suits your fancy.
That was one of the great aspects of Wally’s—the hotdog was a mere canvas to individual hotdog preferences!
But I digress… the lesson that came to me this morning is that I took for granted, for a long time, that in the late spring through the early fall, Wally’s would be there.
Like clockwork.
Like a bright umbrella raised over a polished stainless steel beacon that said, welcome to West Chester. Welcome to Summer. Welcome to hotdog deliciousness…
But unfortunately Wally had another love: Florida.
And he packed up his cart during the pandemic, and retired with no notice. He didn’t pass on the coveted spot that he had for decades (that no one could figure out how he wrangled in the first place).
He didn’t sell the brand, or the cart, or the concept to anyone else. He just quietly retired, to Florida.
It’s funny, as I sit here this morning, I realized that in the entire time I sat in this office, and at this very desk, watching hordes of people come and go, I probably only ever had 3 or 4 of those hotdogs…
It isn’t about the hotdog I guess, it’s about change.
And there is something quietly unsettling that the cart isn’t there anymore.
I talk about the importance of change all the time. It is part of the core of my work with entrepreneurs.
But maybe today is a great lesson. Sometimes, when something is so fundamental, when it’s something you take for granted, even if you don’t often “consume” or use it, there is some pain when it is gone.
Even for a “change-maker” or “change-lover” even, like me, some change can be unsettling.
Some change can be hard.
Some change can be unfamiliar.
Now imagine that for someone that struggles with all types of change in your organization. Someone that doesn’t even like when the clocks change in the spring and fall, let alone operational changes at your company.
Maybe give them some grace. Understand that maybe to them, everything is a Wally, and they like knowing it will be on the corner tomorrow, until it isn’t anymore.
Bye Wally.
Hope you are loving your time in Florida. We miss you!
Cheers,
John
Founder of the align5 Companies, CEO of Scaling Up Coaches, and Serial Entrepreneur
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