At least be open.

Standing in the blazing 2.45pm sunshine waiting for my kids to burst out of their classroom I felt my anger ebb away.

An acquaintance, Dan, stood nearby and so I told him my tale of woe.

After a long drive I’d been STARVING and needed a sandwich urgently before school pick up.

But everywhere local was SHUT.

By that stage I was Hangry (so hungry I’m angry) and I’d bought crusty, hard-to-eat-on-the-go, french bread and cheese from the grocery store. Goodbye Hangries.

‘Why do you think everyone shuts so early?’ I said, exasperated.

Dan paused for a moment, and then he said something profound:

‘Lack of commitment’.

Dan’s an unassuming guy. He talks quietly. It would be easy to miss him.

But he’s also a very successful creator of wildly popular restaurants. Which he sells and then goes on to set up another. He works harder than anyone I know.

He went on to explain that for his next project (he’s taken the summer off since selling his last business) he knows evenings will go great for dinner guests, that lunches will be ok. But they are going to open for breakfast too and he fully expects it to take 2 years before that really catches on and gets exciting.

Matter of factly he said, ‘people just won’t do the hard yards’.

The children burst out of their class and we braced ourselves for the hugs and the bags and the news. He smiled a cheeky smile and added, ‘Which is all the better for me.’

See you on the road,

Helen