Grocery Store Worker Shares Pandemic’s Widespread Impact as Supply Chain Issues Continue
(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)
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Former grocery store cashier Adam Kaat likens his 18 months on the grocery line to a “fever dream” or “getting hit by wave after wave at high tide.” Kaat witnessed firsthand the devastation — and desperation — stoked by an invisible, deadly force as the pandemic of 2020 unfolded. He shares his unforgettable experiences in the powerful new book, Life on the Grocery Line: A Frontline Experience in a Global Pandemic.
“Everything happened overnight,” Kaat recalls in a recent interview. “All of a sudden, you had people with mounds of groceries. Every conversation was about the virus. Every conversation was political. People became polarized immediately.”
In his book, Kaat takes readers into the eye of the storm, where some of the workforce’s lowest paid employees ride a daily maelstrom of empty shelves, angry customers, uncertainty and paranoia. He describes what it was like to be “the gatekeeper to food,” often joined by a police officer as he monitored the number of shoppers permitted in the store.
He tells his riveting story through the eyes of a character named Daniel, who watches from the frontlines as the frenzied panic caused by COVID surges like a tidal wave across his home state of Colorado. Now, he’s suddenly being called a hero just for showing up at his job, and he isn’t sure how to feel about that.
Daniel sees fear in the eyes of some customers and hostility in others, as he does his best to hold his head high and just keep making it from one shift to the next. And along the way, he learns more than he ever expected to about humanity’s response to fear, observing most prominently the way in which some people look down on the very workers they deem “essential.”
At its core, Life on the Grocery Line is about a test of the human spirit — a 21st century manifestation of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea.
Author Adam Jonathan Kaat worked in a grocery store as a cashier and then as a prepared foods supervisor from January 2020 until May 2021. After college, he bounced around through the corporate world until leaving it all behind in the Fall of 2019 to write his first novel. By January 2020, he had taken a job as a cashier to earn money while preserving mental energy for his creative pursuits. He got much more than he bargained for when COVID hit. He began to blog about his experiences as a frontline worker, and 15,000 Facebook followers later, Life on the Grocery Line was born.
For more information and to read Kaat’s blog, please visit www.lifeonthegroceryline.com; or connect with the author on Instagram (@kaatadam), Facebook (@lifeonthegroceryline) or Twitter (lifeonthegroce1).
Life on the Grocery Line: A Frontline Experience in a Global Pandemic Publisher: Inspired Forever Publishing ISBN-10: 1948903326 ISBN-13: 978-1948903325 Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Carmen James Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
Life on the Grocery Line Reveals What it Was Really Like to be Deemed ‘Essential’
(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)
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Adam Kaat never thought he’d be on the front line of anything as interesting as the unraveling of American society, let alone the dismantling of the global economy. But as a cashier in a high-end grocery store, it was his destiny to witness firsthand the devastation — and desperation — stoked by an invisible, deadly force as the pandemic of 2020 unfolded.
In his powerful new book, Life on the Grocery Line: A Frontline Experience in a Global Pandemic, Kaat takes readers into the eye of the storm, where some of the workforce’s lowest paid employees ride a daily maelstrom of empty shelves, angry customers, uncertainty and paranoia.
“When word began trickling in that the virus had spread to the United States and cases were growing, everything changed. The public and personal perception of what I do to pay the bills went from unnoticed to an essential part of survival overnight,” Kaat writes.
He tells his riveting story through the eyes of a character named Daniel, who watches from the frontlines as the frenzied panic caused by COVID surges like a tidal wave across his home state of Colorado. Now, he’s suddenly being called a hero just for showing up at his job, and he isn’t sure how to feel about that.
Daniel sees fear in the eyes of some customers and hostility in others, as he does his best to hold his head high and just keep making it from one shift to the next. And along the way, he learns more than he ever expected to about humanity’s response to fear, observing most prominently the way in which some people look down on the very workers they deem “essential.”
At its core, Life on the Grocery Line is about a test of the human spirit — a 21st century manifestation of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea.
Author Adam Jonathan Kaat worked in a grocery store as a cashier and then as a prepared foods supervisor from January 2020 until May 2021. After college, he bounced around through the corporate world until leaving it all behind in the Fall of 2019 to write his first novel. By January 2020, he had taken a job as a cashier to earn money while preserving mental energy for his creative pursuits. He got much more than he bargained for when COVID hit. He began to blog about his experiences as a frontline worker, and 15,000 Facebook followers later, Life on the Grocery Line was born.
For more information and to read Kaat’s blog, please visit www.lifeonthegroceryline.com; or connect with the author on Instagram (@kaatadam), Facebook (@lifeonthegroceryline) or Twitter (lifeonthegroce1).
Life on the Grocery Line: A Frontline Experience in a Global Pandemic Publisher: Inspired Forever Publishing ISBN-10: 1948903326 ISBN-13: 978-1948903325 Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Beth Foster Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)
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Traumatizing events like natural disasters, COVID, social unrest and random acts of violence dominate the news. But your traumatic experience doesn’t have to make headlines to be real.
“Anybody’s trauma is completely valid,” emphasized Dr. Randall Bell, who went on to explain that any circumstances a person is struggling to process and move beyond can be considered trauma.
“We may not always be able to control what happens to us, but we can control what happens to us going forward,” he added. And this philosophy forms the foundation of his latest book, Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science, & Stories of Resilience.
In it, Dr. Bell draws upon his decades of experience and scientific research to deliver a three-stage framework — Dive, Survive and Thrive — that can help readers process their trauma, make the conscientious decision to accept help and move forward, and eventually, tap into the energy generated by that trauma to achieve more than they ever thought possible.
In Post-Traumatic Thriving, he shares powerful, inspirational stories of real people (many of them, like TV’s Facts of Life star Geri Jewell, are familiar) who were able to move beyond trauma and thrive in the aftermath, including:
• A deaf man with a glass eye invented the electric guitar and became a household name, remarkably wealthy and most importantly, happy. • A convicted murderer took responsibility for the damage he caused, graduated with honors from college, became a minister and turned around the hearts of the most hardened criminals. • A girl born with cerebral palsy landed the world’s first starring role on national television and spoke at the White House three times. • A woman hid in a basement for years and lost her entire family in the Holocaust. She eventually found true love and paints stunning artwork. • The sister of a murder victim helped millions of women in toxic domestic relationships. • A woman’s car crash resulted in an addiction to prescription drugs, a divorce, a loss of her children and a cot in a homeless shelter. She has rebuilt it all back and more. • A man set to go to the Olympics had his hopes dashed by Jimmy Carter and went on to build a worldwide business empire.
Dr. Bell juxtaposes outcomes of scientific studies with these stories to reveal common denominators among “thrivers,” revealing to readers a healthy path toward healing and a life where post-traumatic thriving is possible.
As a socio-economist, Dr. Randall Bell has consulted on more disasters on earth than anyone in history. His clients include the Federal Government, State Governments, International Tribunals, major corporations and homeowners. Dr. Bell believes that “the problem is not the problem — the problem is how we react to the problem.”
Often called the “Master of Disaster,” Dr. Bell is squarely focused on authentic recovery and resilience. His research has been profiled on major television shows and featured in numerous magazines and the international media. More information can be found at https://www.coreiq.com/books.
Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science, & Stories of Resilience Publisher: Core IQ Press ISBN 978-0-9967931-7-9 Available from Amazon.com and all bookstores
Trish Stevens Kim Weiss Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 954.263.6827 Direct 800.854.1134 Office [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)
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Trauma doesn’t discriminate. It can happen to anyone, anytime. And in all likelihood, COVID-19 has traumatized each and every one of us to some degree. Everybody hits a low point once in a while, and ultimately, the quality of our lives depends on our ability to process heartbreaks and catastrophes successfully. So how do we do that?
In Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science, & Stories of Resilience, world-renown expert on disasters and trauma Dr. Randall Bell interweaves science and academic research with stories of people who have not just survived, but have used their trauma as their fuel to thrive. Dr. Bell sits down with survivors of the Holocaust; murder-victim’s families; crime victims; suicide survivors; and those who’ve experienced homelessness, disasters, addictions, depression, death, divorce, disabilities, defeats and disease to explore the rare mindset of the post-traumatic thriver.
Through this unprecedented research, Dr. Bell shares with readers stories of remarkable resilience, including the following:
• A deaf man with a glass eye invented the electric guitar and became a household name, remarkably wealthy and most importantly, happy. • A convicted murderer took responsibility for the damage he caused, graduated with honors from college, became a minister and turned around the hearts of the most hardened criminals. • A girl born with cerebral palsy landed the world’s first starring role on national television and spoke at the White House three times. • A woman hid in a basement for years and lost her entire family in the Holocaust. She eventually found true love and paints stunning artwork. • The sister of a murder victim helped millions of women in toxic domestic relationships. • A woman’s car crash resulted in an addiction to prescription drugs, a divorce, a loss of her children and a cot in a homeless shelter. She has rebuilt it all back and more. • A man set to go to the Olympics had his hopes dashed by Jimmy Carter and went on to build a worldwide business empire.
Ultimately, Dr. Bell documents the science of happiness, as well as the individual styles and common thread that all post-traumatic thrivers have to emerge with a fulfilling life. When trauma hits, your most significant decision will be to dive, survive or thrive. If you choose to thrive, this book is for you.
As an economist, Dr. Randall Bell has consulted on more disasters on earth than anyone in history and is widely considered the world’s top authority in the field of post-traumatic thriving. His clients include the Federal Government, State Governments, International Tribunals, major corporations and homeowners. Dr. Bell believes that “the problem is not the problem — the problem is how we react to the problem.”
Often called the “Master of Disaster,” Dr. Bell is squarely focused on authentic recovery and resilience. His research has been profiled on major television shows and featured in numerous magazines and the international media. More information can be found at www.posttraumaticthriving.com.
Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science, & Stories of Resilience Publisher: Core IQ Press Release Date: January 1, 2021 ISBN 978-0-9967931-7-9 Available from Amazon.com and all bookstores
Trish Stevens Teresa Hinojosa Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 832.569.5773 Direct 281.333.3507 Phone [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
Words For All Website Helps Us Draw On Our Faith During Times Of Stress
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During times of great stress, such as we’ve experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us depend on our faith.
Dr. Pieter Noomen was a man who studied the Bible and other religions throughout his life. After completing his doctoral studies in Amsterdam, he moved to the US and was a senior minister of 3 churches and later a psychotherapist at a Los Angeles church.
During a period in his life when he was unhappy, Dr. Noomen experienced an extra-ordinary change that took him on a journey of communication with a presence on his innermost spiritual level. He believed that either directly or indirectly, all life stems from one common source and to be able to connect with that source would be the highest level of existence we can achieve on earth. Dr. Noomen passed away last year but through his website www.wordsforall.org, he left this special gift so anyone in the world can share his experiences.
An example from Dr. Noomen’s insightful writings at www.wordsforall.org on Joy:
When in ‘heaven’ issues do arise, viable options are considered until there’s a satisfying solution. There’s not a thing as a ‘loser.’ In the so called ‘Positive State’ no fear of rejection ever occurs. A ‘no’ means there is a better choice, but thank you for asking. Even when serious matters need attention or planned actions, any discussion is above board, they unite all involved factions. Unlike on earth, conceived by negative forces, fear nor anger fills any celestial agenda. They all trust the ultimate outcome, so in ‘heaven’ rules a happy laugh, a smile and a teasing twinkle.
Trish Stevens Caroline Shaw Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
Short On Inspiration While Dining In? My Pinewood Kitchen Dishes Out Some Quarantine Cuisine Tips
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With COVID-19 keeping us at home more and shopping less, home chefs need to get creative while cooking tasty, healthy meals for their entire family. Chef and author Mee McCormick is an expert: she healed herself of Crohn’s disease, gut issues, and other immune system challenges with whole food recipes when doctors couldn’t help her.
The mom/rancher/restaurateur can share tips for “quarantine cuisine” when you’re hankering for variety in your meals but you’re short on ingredients and inspiration. Perfect for social distancing, many of her recipes are made with items you probably already have in your pantry (for example, her Black Bean Chicken Chili and Immune-Boosting Chicken & Quinoa Soup); she can teach home cooks how to repurpose items to reduce food waste (cilantro pickles, anyone?), and reveal the healthiest foods you need in your pandemic pantry.
My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure offers more than 100 gluten-free, whole foods recipes that can be customized for Keto, Paleo, or vegans, making it a truly “all-inclusive” eating plan for the entire family. From smoothies, soups and salads, to dinners and desserts, every recipe is gluten-free and gut-friendly. • Curb Your COVID Anxiety with healthy chocolate with Mee’s Chocolate Avocado Mousse & Five-Ingredient Fudge Cups • Soups for Social Distancing – Black Bean Chicken Chili and Immune-Boosting Chicken & Quinoa Soup (nutritious, delicious, and they use what you likely have in your home already!) • Plenty of plant-based offerings • Reduce Waste: Learn how to make cilantro pickles from cucumbers, sweet potato chips from sweet potatoes, a falafel burger from canned chickpeas, and how to make your own healthier ketchup and mayonnaise if you run out • 10 Gut-Friendly Foods for your Pandemic Pantry
Mee McCormick is a rising Southern culinary and wellness innovator, restaurateur, author, TV cooking personality, farmer, rancher, wife and mother. She splits her time between Nashville and nearby Nunnelly, Tennessee; a tiny, unincorporated community in Hickman County, which is also home to her biodynamic farm and restaurant Pinewood Kitchen & Mercantile.
Mee authored her first cookbook My Kitchen Cure, which led to wild success and a book deal with HCI for her second cookbook My Pinewood Kitchen, published on April 14, 2020. She frequently appears on Today in Nashville, and she participates in nationally-recognized food festivals and events, spreading the same level of care and hospitality to audiences everywhere that she has become known for throughout the state of Tennessee. Visit: www.meemccormick.com or www.pinewoodkitchenandmercantile.com.
My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure/130+ Crazy Delicious, Gluten-Free Recipes to Reduce Inflammation and Make Your Gut Happy By Mee McCormick HCI BOOKS Released: April 2020/ $26.95 ISBN: 9780757323522 Available wherever books are sold
Trish Stevens Allison Janse Health Communications Inc. The Life Issues Publisher 1700 NW 2nd Ave Boca Raton, FL 33432 800.851.9100 [email protected] www.hcibooks.com
Emotional Brain Training – A New Antidote to Pandemic Stress
(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing)
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We urgently need two vaccines, one for COVID-19, and another for the overwhelming stress the pandemic has caused. Bestselling author and health psychologist Dr. Laurel Mellin in her new book, “What’s my number?” One Simple Question that Unlocks Your Brain’s Power for Health, Happiness & Purpose, maps out a simple, scientific way to protect ourselves from the stress overload of our time.
“To be truly safe, we need 2 vaccines; one for COVID and the other for stress for 3 reasons: Stress suppresses immunity, making us susceptible to catching the virus. It is an underlying cause of hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, which increase COVID severity and its stress, resulting in an epidemic of mental health issues,” says Dr. Mellin.
When stress is triggered, harmful chemicals are activated by a ‘stress reactive wire.’ Using simple tools, we can switch off that wire and activate a ‘stress resilient wire’ that spews healing chemicals. “Using this system, stress can be good for us,” says Mellin. “The stress reactive circuits only change when activated and we switch them off.”
Consider the following:
Why is a stress vaccine so important for all Americans to have now? Stress suppresses the effectiveness of the immune system and is a root cause of the co-morbidities that make COVID more lethal. Stress hormones activate unhealthy habits like overeating, drinking, sitting and sleep problems, and stress is the underlying cause of our epidemics of anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
What was the scientific breakthrough that led to EBT? We discovered that the emotional brain has 5 resiliency pathways that mirror the emotional processing res-ponse mothers use to encode resilience in their children. We made techniques that enable anyone to use these 5 simple pathways anytime to release stress.
Why does our nation need to reboot our approach to stress with EBT? Research shows that traditional methods only use 2 of the 5 resiliency pathways, and work well in low stress but fail the test even at pre-COVID levels. Stress levels are more extreme now and our nation is ill-prepared to deal with these overwhelming levels. As a public health effort, we need to reboot for high-intensity stress effectiveness, and there is no better time to do it than right now.
Why does the EBT system make stress good for us? By resetting our brain to become highly stress-effective, we bring out its natural healing powers. It’s only during high-stress times when we’re connected to our feelings that we automatically update the brain with expectations that are in harmony with our changing world. If we are stress-effective, our daily dose of stress strengthens our resilience, which is the foundation of health and happiness and enhances our capacity to live a more purposeful life.
Dr. Laurel Mellin is the founder of Emotional Brain Training (EBT), a neuroscience-based solution to stress. She is a health psychologist and Associate Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Mellin is a New York Times bestselling author/researcher, speaker and clinical trainer. EBT is the only method that maps the emotional brain; the seat of health, happiness, spirituality, relationships and productivity in a structured way that empowers people to self-direct their own emotional health and well-being.
“What’s my number?” One Simple Question that Unlocks Your Brain’s Power for Health, Happiness & Purpose Released: April 2020 / Publisher: EBT Books ISBN-10: 1893265013 ISBN-13: 978-1893265011 Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Teresa Hinojosa Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 832.569.5773 Direct 281.333.3507 Phone 832.569.5539 Fax [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
