Risk & Associates County Civil - November 2020

Risk & Associates County Civil - November 2020

COUNTYCIVIL.COM

NOVEMBER 2020

Navigating Gratitude in 2020

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

W e all need a long, revitalizing break from this year. I’m not talking about relaxing at home necessarily; I mean resetting our minds. With all the catastrophes — and how overwhelming those can be — I think it’s important for our well-being that everyone takes the time to truly appreciate their Thanksgiving weekend. How? Good question. I don’t know what’s going on in your life, but I will tell you this universal truth: No two Thanksgivings are ever quite the same, and it couldn’t be more true for this year. Most adults realize this, but you never know what kind of interruptions are going to change people’s lives. It’s easy for life events to prevent all of the same people from spending the same Thanksgiving celebration together year after year. For me, I understood that when I was pretty young. It was the year my grandfather died. That first Thanksgiving without him left a very strong impression on me. As a young boy, I was still trying to think about what death meant, trying to understand that he

wasn’t there and he wasn’t ever coming back. But, when I looked at my family members, I realized even the adults were going through the same thing. They didn’t have all the answers, but they leaned on each other. Then, when my second grandfather passed when I was a teenager, I realized that mourning these losses didn’t get any easier. It was just a fact of life. Family dynamics can change for a lot of reasons, and family death is just one, but those experiences left an indelible impression on me. We can’t take a single holiday for granted. Despite how terrible 2020 has been, don’t brush away Thanksgiving this year as automatically “the worst Thanksgiving ever.” We’ve all learned plenty of valuable lessons from the events of this past year. It’s not a bad thing to review those lessons and share laughter and tears with your loved ones about it. That’s why Thanksgiving can be so great. Relationships are fragile. Health is fragile. Jobs are fragile. We can easily lose sight of that fragility when it’s part of everyday life, but that’s the beauty of Thanksgiving. We get to reflect and, while stuffing turkey and green bean casserole into our mouths,

we get to actually feel content about the present moment.

The mental health field has been overloaded during the pandemic for sure. With a lot of depression going around, it’s important for us to try to encourage ourselves and each other. The minute we stop believing we have a future, the worse our mental health will get. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard for depression is “no zero days.” If you have a day where you really don’t have the energy to do anything, try to accomplish one small thing. That way, it isn’t a “zero” day: You did one thing! Then, eventually those accomplishments can grow and help push you toward a happier place. No matter what’s going on right now, I hope everyone takes advantage of Thanksgiving as a moment to pause and reconnect with themselves and with others. It’s a wonderful time of year like few others.

-Rick Risk

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A MEAL FOR THE CHANGING AMERICAN HOME

HOW A THANKSGIVING DINNER MIX-UP LED TO THE TV DINNER

Would you believe that Thanksgiving dinner — a meal dedicated to home cooking, family time, and, well, being thankful — was directly responsible for the invention of the TV dinner, the ultimate

winning idea. He suggested they package up the remaining turkey with a few sides as frozen dinners that would be ready to eat after being thawed. The twist? They would be served in compartmentalized

manifestation of the solitary, processed meal? If you are a little suspicious of that fact, you’re not alone. But, the connection is real. Those little frozen meals on trays were the result of a Turkey Day mix-up of epic proportions. The year was 1953. That fall, the frozen food company C.A. Swanson & Sons drastically overestimated how many Americans would want a turkey as the centerpiece of their

aluminum trays, much like airplane meals, which were the inspiration for Thomas’ idea. Additionally, they would be marketed as “TV dinners,” with their packaging designed to look like a television set. By 1954, roughly half of American households had TVs. Over the next 10 years, that figure jumped to 92%. As the TV rose in prominence in American living rooms, the TV dinner’s popularity increased exponentially. Swanson sold nearly 10 million of them during the first year of production. By 1959, Americans spent half a billion dollars gobbling up TV dinners.

Thanksgiving spread, leaving them with about 260 tons of extra turkey packed into 10 refrigerated railroad cars. They needed a way to sell this surplus quickly because they had to keep running the train cars back and forth between the East Coast and the Midwest to generate the electricity needed to keep the turkey from spoiling.

Several other phenomena have been linked to the advent of the TV dinner, such as the erosion of the traditional family dinner and a preference for TV entertainment over family conversation during mealtime. It’s hard to believe it all happened because of one Thanksgiving Day with too much turkey!

The company sent out a bulletin asking if any of their employees had a solution to the problem. Swanson salesman Gerry Thomas had a

Why Picking Up a Ukulele Is a Perfect Holiday Treat for You and Your Family

If you’ve ever considered picking up a musical skill, it can be very intimidating. Luckily, the ukulele is perfect for people who want to have fun with music but don’t know where to start. Wait, why are we talking about instruments? Music is a wonderful gift and gesture you can give to the people in your life. Maybe you’ll play a few chords from a song your partner loves, or maybe you’ll learn to strum your parents’ first dance song from their wedding. You could show them in-person or over Zoom and it’ll still have a strong effect. That can be an incredible, memorable gift this season. Music is very healthy for our brains, too! Johns Hopkins Medicine says, “If you want to keep your brain engaged throughout the aging process, listening to or playing music is a

great tool. It provides a total brain workout.” Learning to play your favorite songs can be a very cathartic experience, and after learning some chords, you might even start getting creative and compose your own songs. Creativity isn’t only stimulating for your mind; it’s also contagious. As your family and friends enjoy your musical expression, you just might inspire them to embrace their own creativity a little more. Kids will especially love it. The ukulele is also very kid-friendly due to its size and sound. While learning about the instrument yourself, you can even teach them about it and how to play it, which will engage both math and motor skills. In case you might be thinking: I’m not into the ukulele sound as much as a guitar’s , then

we have excellent news for you! While guitars aren’t too difficult to play, either, there are actually several different kinds of ukuleles. Soprano ukuleles are the smallest and often what people imagine when they think of a ukulele. There are also tenor ukuleles, with a deeper and richer sound. If you want a ukulele that sounds more like a guitar, we recommend a tenor ukulele. Not only are ukuleles easy to play, but also learning to play one is a lifelong gift that keeps on giving. Rick remembers his band days fondly, and music still plays an important role in his life. Let us know if you give it a try!

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Here Are Some Ideas to Make New Memories WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS FALL?

From everyone at County Civil, we hope you’re having a fun fall! Although we can’t go out and enjoy all of the same activities in the same way we did last year, that doesn’t mean we can’t go out at all. There are actually a lot of activities we can do with our loved ones until the year is over and stay cozy while we’re at it. GO ON A PICNIC A little preparation and some food are all you need to enjoy the beautiful outdoors with the new fall colors. Take a hike and bring your favorite snacks, drinks, and even warm meals with thermoses — then, pick a lovely flat spot along the trail (or at the peak!) and enjoy. This socially distanced activity can create some warm memories to last far beyond 2020. PICK PRODUCE AT A FARMERS MARKET While fall festivals might be a little different this year, many farmers markets are still in business and looking for customers. Get your tasty fall produce to make memorable roasts and desserts this season! Depending on your market, it might be strictly pickup, but you can still make a big meal and get your whole family involved. RENT A CABIN A few newsletters ago, Rick shared his memorable experiences at his family lakeside cabin — if you’re looking to make memories this season, cabins aren’t exclusively a summer thing! Get

yourself a fast escape and rent a cabin to create some rustic memories out in the wilderness.

HAVE A FALL MOVIE MARATHON Set up a projector outside and create your own movie theater at home! The most expensive things you need are a projector and speakers. You can actually make your

“screen” with white bedsheets, so long as you pin them up flat! Then, arrange your outdoor pillows and blankets accordingly. Warm up with some hot chocolate and popcorn, and feast your eyes on your favorite movie as the nights dim.

We hope these give you a couple fun ideas for fall! Have a wonderful November, everyone.

CRANBERRY COBBLER ELECTION FOOTBALL NOVEL SAGITTARIUS

THANKSGIVING TOPAZ TURKEY VETERANS

VOTING WINDY

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2383 Tamarack St., Lake Odessa, MI 48849 616-374-7170 | COUNTYCIVIL.COM R isk & A ssociates

Rick Risk is Founder and President of Risk & Associates, a legal support service provider in Michigan, and has assisted hundreds of attorneys, municipalities, courts, Sheriff Offices, businesses, and others with their strategic process needs.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1 2 3

Navigating Gratitude in 2020

How a Thanksgiving Dinner Mix- Up Led to the TV Dinner

This New Skill Will Be Your Family’s Perfect Holiday Treat

Don’t Skip These Fun, Memorable Fall Activities

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Woman Sues Starbucks Over ‘Too Much Ice’

Ice, Ice, Lawsuit WOMAN SUES STARBUCKS OVER ‘TOO MUCH ICE’

Sometimes, there is such a thing as “too much ice.” You’re sipping your cold beverage when

suddenly, it’s gone far quicker than you expected. All you’re left with is a cup full of ice. It’s disappointing, for sure, but is it so disappointing that you would want to file a lawsuit against the company that supplied the beverage? That’s exactly what Stacy Pincus did in 2016. She ordered an iced coffee from Starbucks, only to find “too much ice” in her drink. The lawsuit, filed in Chicago, alleged that the drink was advertised as a 24-ounce beverage, but once the ice was factored in, Pincus and her lawyers claimed the drink was really only “14 fluid ounces.” “Starbucks’ advertising practices are clearly meant to mislead consumers when combined with the standard practice of filling a cold drink cup with far less liquid than the cup can hold,” the suit claimed. NBC News reported that Pincus sought damages to the tune of $5 million against the coffee chain. “The plaintiff would not have paid as much,” her lawyers stated in a court document, “if anything, for the cold drinks had she known that they contained less, and in many cases, nearly half as many, fluid ounces than claimed by Starbucks. As a result, the plaintiff suffered injury in fact and lost money or property.”

Starbucks’ response: “Our customers understand and expect that ice is an essential component of any ‘iced’ beverage. If a customer is not satisfied with their beverage preparation, we will gladly

remake it.” The company also reaffirmed that you can order any iced beverage with “light ice” and receive half the ice normally included. Interestingly, a second lawsuit against Starbucks popped up in Los Angeles a few months later, but both cases

were thrown out. Pincus never saw a cent of that $5 million, nor did she recoup her attorneys’ fees. The case went on to be called “one of the most frivolous lawsuits of 2016.”

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