Winter2021_SSCWN_web

CONTENTS
Association Calendar
& News ......................................... 5
Note to Self
BY DEBRA GORGOS, EDITOR
Self Serve Snapshot ............... 10
Tips .............................................. 14
Around the Wash:
Insurance Issues
Over Ice ..................................... 18
Tricks of the Trade ............... 20
Small Business News
You Can Use .............................. 28
Industry Dirt ............................ 37
Extra! Extra! ............................. 40
Innovations ............................... 46
Fun & Games .......................... 48
Fill in the Blank ...................... 50
Cover Story ............................... 52
Darwin ........................................ 59
VOL. 49, NO. 1, WINTER 2021
Publisher Jackson Vahaly
Editor Debra Gorgos
Design Katy Barret-Alley
Editor Emeritus Jarret J. Jakubowski
Editor Posthumous Joseph J. Campbell
Editor Posthumous Julia E. Campbell
Self Serve Carwash News is published 4 times
per year and is independently owned by Jackson
Vahaly. Web address is www.sscwn.com.
All inquiries should be directed to:
Self Serve Car Wash News
110 Childs Ln., Franklin, TN 37067
jacksonv@sscwn.com
2021 has already been one heck of a year, hasn’t it? It’s only been
a few weeks and I already feel like putting on an eye mask and
sleeping until 2022. People are still angry, people are tired and some
miss the good old days of…2019.
Are you all sick of talking about politics? I feel as if our nation is
hurting and the days of sitting around the dinner table discussing
the news is over in a lot of households. I live in a house that is divided
politically and the past year has been interesting, to say the
least. After the holidays, I was in a post-festivities malaise, so my
family and I sort of looked around the table at each other, and we
impulsively decided to head down to New York City. We were able
to book a room right in Times Square, got in the minivan and drove
two hours into the Big Apple. It was January 1 so there was still
confetti on the streets. But other than colorful slips of tissue paper
lining the streets there were otherwise bare. Empty. Grey. Dark.
Stores were shuttered.
There were no lines. Broadway marquees
were stygian. We got right into
the Empire State Building and right
into the Museum of Natural History.
We were able to buzz right through
the mazed rope lines. But all in all it
was sad. It was a real wake-up call for
how much people and businesses are
struggling. It left me feeling sort of
“blah.” I have known for as long as I
could shop and order food the importance
of small businesses.
There was no wake-up call about how we
have to support small businesses now more than ever, but it really
hit home seeing the once bustling streets of New York City quiet,
empty and barren. In my first issue of Self Serve Car Wash News, the
cover story headline was, Are Self Serves Recession Proof? But who
the heck knew a pandemic was on its way? If the pandemic has not
affected you at all, then good for you! I have had sick family members
and friends who have been infected, and also lost their jobs.
The mental toll has been numbing. Here in New York some schools
are open, but so many things are closed. I am happy the car washes
are open and running. It is a resilient business industry that has survived
recessions and now a global-wide pandemic. I truly hope our
beautiful nation survives, too.
Thankfully, it looks like this pandemic is on its way out. Let’s slam
the door on it and tell it to never darken our doors again. A friend
of ours tested positive and she is not doing well. A schoolteacher,
who worked hard every day to give her students normalcy. It is sad.
I am sad.
Copyright 2021. 2 Dollar Enterprises/SSCWN. All Rights Reserved
4 • WINTER 2021