Coronavirus Precautions and Suggestions - Shadyside Presbyterian Church

Coronavirus Precautions and Suggestions

With reports about the spread of the coronavirus (or COVID-19), we want you to know your health and well-being is of utmost concern.  We are doing all we can to stay current with public health guidelines, to follow best practices for hygiene, and exercising an abundance of caution in responding to this situation.  Here is information that may be helpful to you:

* Worshipers are always encouraged to participate, or not, according to their comfort level.

* If you wish, Instead of shaking hands or embracing, consider verbal greeting, a nod, or smile.

* At Vespers communion, the minsters use hand purifier just beforehand.  If you prefer to receive a blessing rather than partake of the elements, simply cross your arms over your chest.

* Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or handkerchief when coughing or sneezing.

* Wash your hands frequently with warm water, for 20 seconds (about as long as it takes to sing one verse of “Happy Birthday to You”). The friction is as important as the soap and water, to prevent the spread of germs.  Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers if soap and warm water are not available

* Reduce unnecessary touch, especially to your face, and contact, to avoid placing yourself or others at greater risk.

* Please, stay home when you are sick.

* Remember when you are not in worship on Sunday mornings, you can worship with the church via the live at 11 a.m worship webcast found at Live Worship Webcast  

* If you stay home from worship or other events due to illness, please find ways to be in touch through social media, emails and phone calls.

We are constantly motoring reports with regard to the coronavirus, and will update this information as deemed appropriate.

Please keep in mind that there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Allegheny country. We are monitoring reports from the CDC, as well as steps other organizations are taking around the region and will continue to update you as new information becomes available.

Lessons from the Underground

Not long ago I came across a reproduction of a vintage poster that was made for the London Underground.  The poster was an attempt by the Underground management to get some feedback from the thousands who rode their cars every day.  Communication and feedback is important and the Underground is famous for anticipating and providing for what their riders need.  So it is no wonder that these posters were created.

I liked the graphics of the poster. Black and white, with red accents—a classic combination.  I liked that the wording was in the wonderful and copyrighted Gil Sans typeface, a typeface created expressly for the London Underground in the 1920's, much imitated but never outdone.  Its crisp clean look also evokes the jazz age and what we call the Art Deco aesthetic.  It is still in use in all of the signage in the Underground, and rightly so.

The poster asks riders to write their suggestions in the big blank white space below the heading.  What could be better?  Immediate feedback.  Instant communication!  A way to know that is inside the heads of those who are the customers and clientele of the Underground.

We all need that kind of feedback because we want to improve our service and meet the needs of our constituents.  So the idea behind the poster appealed to me, ever so much as the look of the poster.

But then, I was drawn to the examples of what people had  actually suggested that “frame” the center panel, these are small illustrations with the actual comments that people made.  When I read the two at the top center, I burst out laughing, and have been laughing about it ever since.

One of the two suggestions says: “Have longer stops at stations.”  And right there next to it the other suggestion says: “Have shorter stops at stations.”  Hilarious!  

Now, I think that the London Underground should make both of those people happy, don’t you? After all they are both loyal riders, who have both offered genuine and heartfelt feedback, of what they both think will improve upon what exists now.  So it behooves the London Underground to make them both happy.

What?  You say that it is impossible to make both of them happy?  You are correct!  And this is a point that extends far beyond the Underground or London or the United Kingdom.  Not every suggestion, no matter how good it may be, can be acted upon. In fact, if you or I or anyone else tried to act on every good suggestion that came our way, we would probably explode or implode.  Or both at the same time.  It cannot be done.  There is no way to satisfy every idea and suggestion – and remember – every person who offers theirs is absolutely certain, without any manner of doubt whatever, that among all the many suggestions, good bad an indifferent, theirs is the ultimate, the best, the sine qua non.

Here’s the thing: If you have ever made a suggestion that has not been acted upon, in any setting, don’t stop riding the Underground – in other words don’t stop being an active part of that organization into which you poured your suggestion.  Or suggestions.  Keep in mind that others are making them too, and many of them are like yours, and many of them are diametrically opposed to yours.  The complete opposite.  Think of the London Underground Suggestions Poster.  Remember those two top panels.  

And then, no matter what, hop on board so that you can get where you are going and on the way you can actually enjoy the ride.