You’ve all seen and heard it.
The signs on businesses saying their hours were cut short due to a staff shortage.
The help wanted ads.
The endless pleas for workers and the complaints about how difficult it is to find good help.
Tallapoosa Publishers Inc. has been in the same boat for quite some time.
Despite a bit of help during the winter sports season, we have been without a sports reporter in our Elmore County papers since the departure of Dalton Middleton back in September.
Dalton was our sports editor for almost three years, and he made a name for himself in the Wetumpka and Tallasee sports worlds.
Now, I knew there would be big shoes to fill, but I didn’t think they’d be this impossible to fill.
I am happy to report there’s a new slew of graduates, and I hope one of them is on their way shortly to Wetumpka. But until then, I want to give a huge shoutout to the coaches, players and parents of Elmore County who have been so good to us.
Our sports editor, Samuel Higgs, has been covering 12 schools round the clock and doing it virtually on his own. Of course there have been complaints. We had to cut some things here and there and we’ve missed more games than I like to admit.
But every game I’ve covered, the coaches and players have been so gracious.
That’s what’s so incredible about high school sports. They just want to be seen. I always say high school sports is the purest form of sports, and although there’s a high school transfer portal that seems to be getting larger and larger, I don’t expect the purity of the game to change much — or the purity of the players.
See, those players are just looking for their shot. And the newspaper can help deliver that.
All of this is to say, we should be more gracious with people.
The whole world is seemingly short-staffed right now. It’s easy to get angry at a restaurant because your order is taking longer or become anxious because you’re spending a few extra minutes at the drive-thru. Even things like road work take longer because they don’t have the construction workers they need to complete the job in a timely manner.
We all need to go through life a little more like the Elmore County coaches and players. Things aren’t handed to us anymore, and we need to work a little harder to be seen. But if we act with intention and grace, we can make people’s lives just a little bit more peaceful.
Lizi Arbogast Gwin is the managing editor of Tallapoosa Publishers Inc. She can be reached at 434-962-9420 or via email at lizi.gwin@alexcityoutlook.com.
