Originally posted for ULI Arizona
Observations and Opportunities ULI Arizona
From Our Members’ Perspectives . . .
Join us each week as ULI Arizona leaders and members share their experiences and perspectives in this ever-changing world. Their views represent various real estate industry segments and delve into both professional and personal thoughts and ideas in this snapshot in time, and what positive opportunities can be found today, and in the future.
Observations:
One of the byproducts of these strange times is the time and space to think. I have heard a lot of people talk about being bored. While I have not personally experienced boredom during this period, I have learned that Zoom can be a more efficient substitution for meeting-filled days, and I am embracing this as a time to reflect and plan.
As I think about it, these reflections are really about observation itself. Taking myself out of normal routines and well-worn habits has allowed me to notice things that I might otherwise take for granted.
I see a public bus roar by on Camelback Road, and I think, “Wow, imagine being a bus driver in today’s environment, not knowing who is stepping on for a ride.”
I think about the delivery services bringing food to someone’s grandma. The grocery clerks. The postal workers. The doctors, nurses, and EMTs. The teachers figuring out online classrooms on the fly. All of them out there, doing what needs to be done, not asking to be called heroes, but acting like it just the same. I will be honest that I feel a pang of guilt—knowing that many of them are also people that society has not necessarily valued monetarily, while so many of us safely mitigate the risk by sitting behind a desk and choosing carefully when to venture outside. It is humbling.
Opportunities:
Challenging times force us to be more creative and entrepreneurial in the ways that we solve problems and think about big-picture issues. Opportunities will come, even though it sometimes does not feel like it. We will figure it out.
There is a human component, though, to all of this too. Like most of us, I have always reflexively, and maybe unthinkingly, thanked the person bagging my groceries. Now, my perspective is a little bit different. “Thank you for ringing me up,” I say. “And thank you for being here.”
Through the past few weeks, I feel like I have seen more kindness and patience, and I have witnessed people doing whatever they can to help one another. While we do not know what societal changes will endure, I am hopeful that gratitude will be part of the mix.
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Beth Jo Zeitzer, Esq.
President and Designated Broker
R.O.I. Properties
