Our Viewpoint: Feel the holiday stress

Here we are, less than a week away from Christmas, and it feels like the feelings are changing. The energy was stressful in our office on Monday, and many people were feeling that way. Employees were out sick. People were rushing to get packages mailed. One friend stopped in my office and said he wished he could just take a long nap and wake up in January.

I felt that as well. I joked with my staff that we were going to reward ourselves every time someone with a UPS package to ship came in and wasn't stressed out or frustrated.

The holidays are full of joy and excitement, but also full of stress. When we feel that stress, that's when we need to take a deep breath, take a step back, and remember to be thankful for all we have and for the great place we live in.

During an outing on Sunday, my family stopped by the Wildhorse Bar in Plains for breakfast. It was fantastic and as one of the only breakfast offerings in town, it was busy. It took awhile to get our food, but we enjoyed just having uninterrupted time to chat and catch up.

What was disheartening was that the bar had signs up reminding customers of their limitations and asking them to be courteous. The signs said "To Our Wonderful Customers... We LOVE to be here serving up hot plates and cold beverages. We pride ourselves in providing equally great service and food. However, we are limited on grill space in our kitchen, and wait times do vary. Plase keep our limitations in mind and remember to be courteous to our staff. Thank you for understanding."

I felt what they were trying to convey at the Wildhorse. Somtimes I think in this world where everything is so accessible, people forget what it's like to live in a small town. The Wildhorse saw a need and started offering breakfast Friday-Sunday. Here they are providing this great service, along with their other delicious offerings, and because of the attitudes of some customers felt the need to point out that they are doing their best.

I think we're all doing our best, especially during the stressful holiday times. Isn't now the perfect time to show a little compassion and grace and just be thankful for what services we can get in our small towns?

We appreciate all the small businesses, the service workers who can fix our dishwashers or fix that pesky noise in the front end of our vehicle, and everyone who makes it possible for us to continue living in our wonderful home of Sanders County.

And don't worry, January will be here soon.

— Annie Wooden