Working under pressure, whether it’s a quick deadline, a cash crunch or a problematic vendor is always a challenge.
For three weeks, starting in late December and ending earlier this week, Beersheva was under daily rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Some days only one rocket fell, other days there was a barrage.
For everyone at Negev Direct, it gave a whole new meaning to the phrase working under pressure. It also gave us a new perspective on what is important in life.
This was serious stuff: several people were sevely injured, many were lightly wounded or suffered from shock. Property was destroyed, including a direct hit on a classroom (see photo above). Thanks to the foresight of our newly-elected mayor, the Beersheva school system had been closed just the night before.
Since the schools were closed, children were home or sleeping in community shelters. People couldn’t come to work. Some businesses closed temporarily. Many people left town for safer areas.
Early on, we decided to keep Negev Direct up and running on an as-close-to-normal schedule as we could maintain. We did not miss a day, or even miss an order. Many times we had to quickly stop work and run to our shelter. But in the end, the work was done, clients were attended to and no business was lost.
The dedication of our staff was just outstanding and I want to thank them all for their committment to service under especially trying circumstances.
Here are some lessons that we learned:Keep your perspective, it could always be worse.Take care of your clients and keep a positive attitude.Work is important, but family comes first.Yes we can:We will be there to serve our clients no matter what it takes.
I want to say thank you to all of our friends, family, vendors and clients who called and emailed us during the war to make sure that we were safe and sound.
We won’t forget your concern.
David