Worker problem on Hilton Head Island and the Lowcountry region via The Island Packet

I would like to publicly applaud The Island Packet for its advocacy on behalf of the hospitality industry on Hilton Head Island and the surrounding region. The newspaper's journalistic efforts (in publishing a series of articles) to address systematic problems in sustaining a quality workforce long term makes plain that change is needed to sustain such a critical industry to the economic stability of the area.

Far too long has economic development in the region been skewed towards dead end investment. Tourism and hospitality are viable avenues to create stability in the long term, while other industries have a tendency to lag. 

The strength of the region's efforts in this regard is very much determinate on building resources...human performance, infrastructure, capital projects, education (at all levels: high school, certificate programs, technical college and 4yr). The voices of those working to fulfill every imaginable service have consistently remained absent and should be considered necessary. Bolstering the industry with resources won't remain viable without active representation or advocacy from the workforce itself. That is, the voices of those that serve on the front line sitting at the table to lend experience when visioning the island's future.

As such, I will continue to lend my praise to the newspaper's editorial board and its reporters for standing with the people and not the system in this series.

What's in a Name?

There's comfort in familiarity and a town where your name even in absence is not lost in the shuffle of time and place.

At one point in my Lowcountry life my occupation necessitated spending a great deal of time on Hilton Head Island and in that same period my name would have been characterized as recognizable by many.  It's been several years now.  My career as well as my name operate remotely and for the most part outside the spectrum of local pervue.  A radical shift from before but a profession possessing many of the appealing attributes found in self employment. The only drawback~a feeling of being disconnected to what transpires South of the Broad River Bridge. (Port Royal and Beaufort, SC are referred to as North of the Broad, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island as South of the Broad).

But true to the nature of the region's Southern hospitality any feeling of disconnection changed last week.  I had a meeting on Hilton Head Island and stopped to purchase gasoline at Island Tire (South End).  I prefer to use this location for gasoline for several reasons.  One, they are about the only location that maintains a full service as well as a self service option at the pumps.  (Face it, there are just some days, rainy ones included, when you just don't want to pump your own gas). Two, they have on more than one occasion provided superb service in the tire life of my 2004 vehicle. What made this particular stop significant was the simple act of inadvertently dropping a credit card after my purchase in the self service lane. But I'm getting ahead of the story because what really transpires is that I purchase gasoline, grab my receipt and proceed on to my next destination unaware that I'm missing anything.

Several hours beyond my gasoline purchase at Island Tire: I've eaten lunch at Plums in Bluffton, attended two meetings and find myself on the short drive to Savannah, Georgia to pick up my elderly father when I get a voice mail message from Debi Lynes of Lynes on Design and WHHI-TV's Girl Talk (a local HHI celeb and outstanding individual). "Ann Marie, it's Debi Lynes did you get gas at Island Tire today?" and in the same instant I get an inbox message from Debi via FaceBook (the beauty of social media) "Ann-Marie they have your credit card at Island Tire."  Naturally, my initial reaction is appreciation that a good Samartin found my credit card and turned it in and that I'd not fallen victim to some malcontent.  I do wonder at this point how Debi Lynes factors into the equation of finding my card, but thankful she offered her assistance.  I call Island Tire, confirm that my credit card is there and thank the other person on the line (Jackie) for holding it until I can return to pick it up several hours later.

So here's what happened in the several hours after I had dropped my credit card: Jackie, the bookeeper at Island Tire pulls up to the self service pump and finds the card, the name on the card is recognized in terms of my former role with a nonprofit organization on the island, Jackie calls the nonprofit, doesn't find me there nor is provided information helpful to locating me.  In the mean time, Debi Lynes pulls into the station to purchase gasoline and the attendant thinks to himself (on a lark) maybe Debi knows how to find this person for Jackie and proceeds to ask if Debi knows the owner of the credit card (me) to which she replies "I do and I have her number in my cell phone!"

Just when you think you've lost connectivity the universe creates ways to link you in meaningful ways.