This is the last part which needs to get installed for my car's exhaust system to be complete. However, when I arrived at Mavis bright and early this morning, they didn't have the part. If the car wasn't driveable, I would be very mad. As it is, I am quite upset. No, I am not upset at the people at Mavis, as they are upset as well. I am upset at a supply chain which has failed at a critical moment for me.
I am told that Covid-19 has affected a lot of supply chains around the world. Couple this with the recent supply chain problem caused by a container ship blocking the Suez Canal, and one can start building a case for regionalization in addition to globalization. When the pandemic first hit, no one knew how much of our medical supply chain was sourced from China. I am not at odds with David Ricardo who suggested that there is mutual national benefit from trade even
if one country is more competitive in every area than its trading
counterpart and that a nation should concentrate resources only in
industries where it has a comparative advantage. However, it also makes sense for regions to be moderately self sufficient during a pandemic. Yet, one can go way too far with this idea, such as with North Korea's idea of Juche. A nation (or region) must find a happy medium, so that when many international borders have to be shut down, enough commerce can take place, in order to minimize the disruptions that result from closed borders and broken supply chains.
In my case, a minor supply chain breakdown is interfering with a visit to see FH at her friend's place. The part never made it to Mavis at 9:00 as promised. It arrived 4 hours late. As a result, the repair could not be completed early enough to allow me to make it to FH's friend on time. And when I started to leave for Long Island to meet up with FH for an early dinner, she texted me to say that she was tired and that we should wait until next weekend to get together. At that point, I started on a long drive, and decided to call FCM to say hello. This hello ended up allowing us to get together for dinner, and chatting well into the evening. Even though there are some warning signs, I feel good enough about FCM to consider a second get together.
PS: The next day FCM sent me a message that makes me feel we will stay in the "Friend Zone." And that's OK with me, as she was a low priority dating prospect.
