Thank you!

In these uncertain times you might be reading stories about people ignoring social distancing guidelines and hoarding hand-sanitizer in an attempt to profiteer.  But there are also stories of both people and companies stepping up to do their part.  Today, I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to both Mattel and, more personally, to a friend of mine we’ll call M.

M is one of my personal heroes; their home state (Washington) was one of the first to report a death from covid19 in the United States. As a food-service professional in a facility that houses the elderly, they are, quite literally, on the front lines of this pandemic. In their spare time, they’re putting their rusty sewing skills to work, volunteering to make masks for the nursing staff at the facility.

Thank you for going above and beyond and please, please, stay safe!

As to Mattel, the company behind Barbie has put its manufacturing muscles to the test by not only prototyping face shields for medical staff, but also working to meet the desperate need for face masks.  They’ve converted a portion of their workforce into making said masks, using the fabric that would otherwise be used to dress their famous dolls.   

Both Mattel’s president and COO as well as it’s chairman and CEO commented on LinkedIn, stating that their company is, “committed to using our resources to contribute as much as we can to fight covid-19”, listing several development teams producing face masks for donation.

While I may criticize Mattel for not creating dolls to my very specific tastes (I think most doll-lovers have done this at one time or another), I very much appreciate that they’re taking this seriously and doing what they can to improve the situation.  I wish all companies would follow suit.

Please, stay safe out there.  I’ll see you next time.