I Had Written Him A Letter

By Meredith Spark

I am a sole trader running a part-time remedial massage practice while caring for primary school aged children. I have lived in Melbourne all my life. I love the diversity of our weather, our snobby devotion to coffee, our food culture and our curious laneways. To say Melburnians have endured repeated COVID-19 lockdowns is an understatement. Last year was hard. If you didn’t live in Melbourne during 2020, all the empathy in the world won’t help you to truly understand, but we appreciate you trying. I see my beloved city divided over the political handling of this pandemic. I cringe every darn time I see health matters politicised.

When we had a case emerge from interstate hotel quarantine recently, I could feel the entire state hold its collective breath. When we went into the inevitable lockdown, the emotions were mixed. Some people were angry – really, severely angry. Others, like myself, felt utterly crushed. It was an ugly Groundhog Day. We returned to remote learning and Zoom calls like riding an uncomfortable bike.

I closed up my business. Again.

My cancellation calls to clients are getting easier – they know what to expect now and told me they knew I’d call soon after the presser and that I would be all over managing it.

Being locked down again is emotionally difficult. In some ways lockdown is easy – systems are now well and truly there – but in other ways, it’s oh-so-hard. We thought we’d seen the last of lockdowns but, like reflux after a spicy curry, back it comes.

Hit in the Wallet

The big difference for many this time was the lack of financial support. Last year there was JobKeeper, which us massage therapists helped fight for sole traders across the country to access. I felt proud that, although my federal MP’s response was disappointing, we made a difference. The power of collective nagging supported change happening for the better.

But JobKeeper had ended when this latest lockdown happened. We had days of vague promises of financial support – soon, soon, it will be announced soon.

When business support was eventually announced, it was clear small businesses NOT registered for GST were to be excluded. All the small operators, all the subbies, all the people on low income who would spend every cent back out in the community … we were on our own, and we didn’t know how long we couldn’t work for.

I was devastated.

What Can My Idle Hands Do?

In a past career, my work team studied a fair amount of emotional intelligence – ‘know thyself’ improves how well you can work as a team. Part of that learning helped me to understand that I am unhappy when I feel powerless. When the going gets tough, I am best if I have something for my idle hands to do.

But what could I do?

I don’t make the rules about who opens and closes. I don’t decide who gets funding and who doesn’t. I’m a little sole trader in the burbs, muddling along as best I can in another darn unlucky situation that is entirely outside my control.

Then I remembered last year’s letter writing campaign and felt hope. In feeling so utterly powerless with the situation we were in, this was something I could actually do. So, I chose to do something. At worst, writing a letter would give me a sense of accomplishment. At best, it would make a difference.

I drafted a letter, borrowing elements of last year’s letter writing campaign and shared it with the most helpful AMT Head Office for feedback. After a few tweaks, they then shared it for other AMT members to use.

I told my story and sent it off to my local State MP with fingers crossed but not hoping for much given the tumbleweeds of communication I received from the federal campaign. I even shared a cut down, more generic version to a primary producer I know in another electorate who was also hit hard. The more voices, the harder we are to ignore, right?

Who Listened?

To my utter surprise, I received a personalised response! My MP raised parts of my story in State Parliament, along with a few others who contacted him that week. He kindly attached an excerpt of the Parliamentary records as proof he had done so. I was pretty excited. My letter was not ignored! Some ripples, no matter how small, were made when I sent my letter into the proverbial pond.

A bigger surprise was to come.

I received a follow up phone call from my MP’s office saying he would like to catch up. He wanted an anonymous photo of him discussing concerns with real people to be included in his upcoming newsletter. Of course I agreed to meet him. When he arrived, we talked about my experience, about the impacts to me, but also about how entire families are financed by non-GST businesses. We had a good half hour natter before we took photos.

Now restrictions have eased and I am back at work so funding for this particular lockdown is no longer relevant. But I am acutely aware that we will inevitably have more lockdowns and other industries are still hit hard.

I don’t know how successful the campaign to get non-GST registered businesses financial support will be. On our side, my MP is in opposition, so he’s happy to have something to bring up against the party in power. The flipside is, being in opposition means less attention from the primary decision makers. I can only hope my message won’t be distorted for political gain and will be considered by the powers that be. At least I now have hope instead of dejection.

The Benefit of Being Noisy

This has exploded in a small way but beyond my expectations. With permission from my MP, I shared a photo of our chat and my very quiet Facebook account has been pinging non-stop, which is an unexpected bonus. I was asked to share my story in the AMT blog (eek), which you’re now reading. We know how important being listened to is for our massage clients, and I have been heard. It helps soothe my soul.

My letter has hopefully inspired others to copy/paste and send their own letters. Perhaps it will inspire others to take some other action, no matter how small, to help improve the world around us, rather than sitting in anger or despondency and wondering why no one has done anything to fix ‘it’.

Anyone who has worked in a corporate environment will know they love a good throw away slogan, but a couple are meaningful here:

• ‘Nothing changes if nothing changes’
• ‘If it is to be, it is up to me’.

I encourage everyone to make ripples in your ponds. Sometimes it will be a small one but perhaps it will create a bigger wave.

About the Author

Meredith Spark is a Massage Therapist in Melbourne, Victoria. She is a Melburnian who doesn’t drink coffee but please keep that quiet.