SWC’s Fast Five
USPS has it together for Christmas, career paths defy parent choices, your new apartment might be your old office, Walmart deliveries go driverless while really (really) old cars are hot again.
So, here’s this week’s Fast Five:
1 Postal Service is ready to deliver a successful holiday season
U.S. postal customers will not have to endure a repeat of the delay-plagued 2020 holiday season. “We are ready,” says Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, for the looming peak season when millions of Americans will mail and receive packages.
2 Vintage cars are chic again
While this may not include your old beater, enthusiasm for vintage cars has emerged at a time when microchip shortages have fueled bidding wars for new and used contemporary vehicles. The pandemic has brought a swell of interest in classic, vintage and exotic cars, particularly among people with spare cash and a desire for COVID-safe driving adventures.
3 Americans’ first jobs, then and now
More children do not follow their parents’ career paths. Instead, there is an ever-changing choice of career paths as the generations unfold. Yes, sometimes doctors’ children become doctors, too. More often, each generation makes fresh choices. These reflect both personal preferences and the ever-changing tides of the U.S. economy.
4 Your new apartment is someone’s old office
From copier room to your new pantry, abandoned office buildings all over the U.S. are being converted into apartments. As the pandemic normalizes remote work, lots of firms from startups to multinational corporations are downsizing their offices. A logical new purpose for these centrally located buildings with big parking lots is housing.
5 Driverless trucks are making daily runs for Walmart
How do they maintain the 10 and 2 o’clock position on the steering wheel? The country’s first driverless trucks are now operating on local roads in Bentonville, Arkansas, shuttling merchandise for Walmart from a warehouse to a nearby store. Short urban routes are becoming more common as retailers like Walmart turn to hub-and-spoke distribution to fulfill growing online orders for same-day store pickup.
