SPECIAL Q&A: Overnight delivery impacted by supply chain crisis

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

Season's greetings, happy holidays, and happy Christmas, specifically for today. And also specifically for today, we've got a very special listener question that came in overnight. We have a rule here on the program, we almost never repeat stories or callers. There's just so many interesting, awesome people out there. I always want to give you something fresh and new.

But in this case, the same caller that we heard from this time last year is back with a new challenge. Crazy coincidence, he just kind of tends to struggle this time of year. He's actually in the business of making a lot of deliveries in a concentrated period of time. It's just a big job. And over the years, he's had to deal with a lot of difficulties and challenges, but perhaps none greater than the holiday seasons of 2020 and now 2021.

So last year produced some unique challenges of its own, but this year, well, there's some more challenges. So without further ado, let's go to a remote, undisclosed location for this question, after the non-seasonal, yet still relevant message from our sponsor. >> Hi, Chris. My name is Chris Aswell, and I'm calling once again from my warehouse in the northern part of Finland. For the past several hundred years, I've been going around the world every December to deliver gifts to children.

But the past two years have been harder than anything I can remember. I called in last year to complain about how kids weren't excited about getting hand sanitizer in their stocking, and also the fact that a lot of parents didn't want strange men in their homes. Well, good news. It was hard, but we got through the worst of it, or so I thought. This year, we're all doing better, countries are reopening, and I'm heading out to Thailand shortly.

I'm also happy to report that all the elves are fully vaccinated. Fortunately, we have another serious problem on our hands, the global supply chain crisis. I've got a long list of stops to make, and half of my stock is stuck on the container ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean. How can we save Christmas again? Wow, what a message, what a question. I feel so honored.

Thank you again for calling in, our caller from the northern part of Finland. So, I mean, I was like, what can I say here? I'm not in the business of giving advice to people who have been specialists in their field for hundreds of years. And the supply chain stuff is tough, no doubt. Plus, by the time this episode is out, the immediate crisis of overnight delivery, at least this particular crisis, will be over for another year.

So, I'll just say fingers crossed that our caller was able to figure it out. Maybe next year, you know, look at our partnership station, right? Just one suggestion, but what are we going to do? The rest of us, okay? So, all the rest of us, if we can't help directly with the supply chain crisis, or the continued pandemic, or, you know, unemployment, inflation, etc., any other big picture issue, maybe just maybe, maybe it's up to all of us to do our part in being kind to people, in understanding that sometimes things take longer to arrive, or the server at the restaurant is overworked, and just have a little grace wherever possible.

And here I'm speaking to myself as much as anyone else, because sometimes I am not patient, and sometimes I don't have grace, so I'm trying to work on that. I want to thank you again for joining me for this year of Side Hustle School. If you celebrate different holidays, not Christmas, something else, or if you're like me, and you just don't like most holidays, or sometimes they make you sad, I understand that, I see you, I recognize you as well. Going into a new year, who knows what 2020 will bring, but we're in it together. You, me, this guy from Finland, and everyone else out there.

Happy holidays everyone, and happy looking forward. From the Onward Project