Time Traveling After the Fires

We just moved our clocks ahead one hour (spring forward, fall back) and now everything looks different, our sleep cycle is all messed up, and our pets are wondering why we are feeding them an hour earlier. Oh, we’ll soon get used to it, because we have learned to adapt to change. As businesspeople, we have no other choice.

But what if we could move our clock ahead ONE YEAR, then how would things be? What if we could catch a ride on a starship that could take us to March 2026 in the blink of an eye and set us down in the same spot we are today, but one year later?

The following scenario could very well be how I and most of you could see the world around us one year from now…

Picture us as we begin to overcome the devastation and heartbreak left by the Eaton and Palisades fires, and the financial uncertainty resulting from the many changes made by the new administration. Because I believe that the will of the fire victims, prayers from their relatives and friends, and help from all those wonderful people and organizations that have come to their aid, will cut though the red tape and help them build the new homes they deserve. And I also believe that after a rough couple of months, the changes from the new administration will begin to take effect, bringing down the price of gas and eggs, and opening up opportunities we haven’t seen since before Covid. The lower gas prices may even help my bottom-line big time, as it will yours.

My day might go like this…I’d wake up in my Pasadena home to the rumbling of cement trucks heading up to Altadena to join the army of construction vehicles, equipment and workers there. They are all breathing life back into a burned-out but hope-filled community. I drive by later and see lumber trucks hauling Canadian lumber, and flatbeds hauling American steel unloading everywhere. Signs that the US wins the tariff war.

Then I visit our Altadena store, one of the few businesses in the area spared by the fire, to make sure they have enough supplies as they are flying off the shelves due to the massive rebuilding effort. I also brought some pan dulce (Mexican sweet breads) that we offer with coffee to hungry construction workers and landscapers.

Then it’s back to Pasadena to check in on Landscape Warehouse Nursery where the regreening of burned areas is now a major part of the business.

Our other stores have done well also, benefiting from decreasing inflation and the latest AI widgets and programs that make our businesses – yours and mine – more efficient.

Was my leap into the future too optimistic? I don’t think so. It is all possible as long as you remain positive and demand that the politicians deliver what they promised when we elected them, or we boot them out.

One last thing: stay away from negative people. They are jealous and small-minded and would love the chance to bring down your company and shoot down your time-traveling starship as well. May the force be with you.

– José Robles, owner, Landscape Warehouse