We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » midwinter break
big picture

midwinter break

December 1, 2006
Peter Bradley
No Comments

This time of year, one of my small but significant pleasures is the simple act of entering a warm house after a walk in the wintry air. Amid all the turmoil and noise of the holidays, returning from a quiet walk at the nearby Audubon sanctuary—sans Blackberry or cell phone— is an old-fashioned sort of joy.

I think of this now following a discussion with a colleague over a ballot initiative here in Massachusetts that would allow grocery stores to apply for licenses to sell wine. He lamented the elimination some years ago of the old blue laws, which had prohibited most stores from operating on Sundays. Allowing Sundays to become much like any other day has come at a social cost. Previously, when we were all forced to shut down business for a day, we did things like visit family, have large Sunday dinners or take long, leisurely walks—in memory at least. Norman Rockwell's famous illustration, "Freedom from Want," in which grandmother brings out the turkey and granddad prepares to carve for an expectant family, captures those days in a way that today we may consider rife with sentimentality. But for those of us fortunate enough to remember Sunday dinner at Grandma's house, it is evocative.

The modern world's demands on our time—what conference speakers repeatedly call our 24/7 world— occurred to me again after watching our local amateur theatrical group perform "Over the River and Through the Woods," a play in which a young man tells his grandparents, with whom he dines every Sunday, that he is moving from New Jersey to the West Coast for a better job. At once funny and heartwarming, the play captures how wrenching to family the demands of the modern global economy can be.

I'm hardly suggesting we go back to an era that was, in all likelihood, not nearly as happy as memory may suggest. We live in a world that moves fast all the time because consumers, collectively, demand it. We want to shop on Sunday. We want goods delivered quickly. We expect stores to carry the products we want, and at low prices. Supply chain management practices have evolved, and continue to evolve, with an unwavering eye on velocity and cost because businesses have no choice but to do so. This magazine exists in large part to serve that cause, so don't get me wrong and think I pine for the good old days. This field we cover can be pretty rewarding—and demanding. But it is good to get off the train every once in a while, head into the woods and spend a few minutes enjoying, to borrow from Robert Frost, no other sounds but "easy wind and downy flake."

Global Logistics Business Management & Finance
  • Related Articles

    no break in the action

    Wal-Mart poised for big e-commerce push in what might be make-or-break move

    A Break With Tradition Now Inevitable In Warehousing

Peterbradley
Peter Bradley is an award-winning career journalist with more than three decades of experience in both newspapers and national business magazines. His credentials include seven years as the transportation and supply chain editor at Purchasing Magazine and six years as the chief editor of Logistics Management.

Recent Articles by Peter Bradley

From temp to management: interview with Diane Garforth

Watching over intermodal's interests: interview with Joni Casey

Building resilience into the supply chain: interview with Yossi Sheffi

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Private equity firm acquires packaging provider Coregistics in e-commerce bet

  • Trucking industry warns that AB 5 decision could push freight capacity out of California

  • Packaging industry reprioritizes amid inflation, supply chain disruption

  • Warehousing's perfect storm

  • Raymond Corp. marks 100th anniversary

Now Playing on DCV-TV

E3f9e6d5 8bd4 40ca 8c7f 43aa63ea3fc9

Lessons from CSCMP’s Annual Report Card for Shippers and Carriers

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Recently, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) released their 33rd Annual State of Logistics Report which is created by AT Kearny. I've viewed this as basically a "Report Card" for shippers and carriers since it offers a comprehensive view of what they both have dealt with in the past year,...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Breaking Bad: Conducting Full Truckload RFPs in the Age of Digital Freight Procurement

  • Fueling Sustainability for Manufacturers: Strategies to Increase Fuel Efficiency and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

  • Guide to Proven Warehouse Solutions

  • Five common misconceptions about running a private fleet

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2022. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing