Perhaps you saw the article on the front page of Wednesday’s Park Record,” Overnight stays likely to drop.” This news was based on a survey and forecast compiled for the Park City Chamber/Bureau. While the forecast found there may be smaller crowds here than last year, with booking through the ski season “down by upward of 12% from the same time a year ago,” the article goes on to note that, according to the Chamber/Bureau, “the 2021-2022 ski season was record-breaking.”
In other words, the crowds are still coming — and they’re right around the corner.
Will you, the full-time Parkite, be inconvenienced? Depending on how you look at it, yes; you may be. But you will be inconvenienced by people coming here as our guests who spend much of the money that otherwise helps to make our lives, let’s face it, so convenient. (And we are perfectly capable of inconveniencing ourselves, like the aggressive drivers among us who still insist on driving 65 mph on S.R. 224 and passing in the right lane, in the dark, when the roads are icy. Cut that out.)
Consideration is something we should show each other and show our guests as a matter of principle, whether or not it’s reciprocated. It’s like fairness; it brooks no exceptions. At our best, that’s just who we are.
Be best.
Nevertheless, prepare. Avoid unnecessary car trips, especially downtown, during this busy season, for all our sakes, including your own mental health. By all means you should still go down to Main Street — but maybe find a good place to park nearby and hoof it or take the bus.
Be patient. Everywhere: in grocery stores, in restaurants and on the slopes. Practicing patience — and for all of us but saints, it does take practice — is just as rewarding as working out on a NordicTrack or Peloton; more rewarding, probably.
The late writer David Foster Wallace, in a commencement speech that is worth revisiting, pointed out that “learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.”
Take that to heart or mind.
And breathe.
Be courteous. This, too, almost goes without saying, but just because some visitor from another wealthy enclave treats you like the mere hired help doesn’t mean you should descend to their level. It’s a long way down. Be grateful that you can be courteous. Apparently it’s not a gift given to everyone.
Get out and see people, especially in the holiday season. Park and walk down to Main Street; breathe in the fresh air and evergreen notes; take in the lights; and warmly greet a stranger. None but the churlish doesn’t wish to hear “Happy Holidays!” at the least — and if you say it with enough brio, your smile and heart will grow three sizes, guaranteed.