Not long ago, I found myself in line at my local dry cleaner. It’s a modest shop, the kind of place you’ve passed a thousand times without a second thought. But the man behind the counter — let’s call him Howard — is not a modest man. He pays an almost fussy, forensic level of attention to every customer. He remembers names and checks garment tags twice. He asks follow-up questions about a persistent wine stain on a lapel that suggest he genuinely, deeply cares about the outcome of his work. When it was finally my turn at the counter, I thanked him for the meticulousness he brought to his work and casually asked how business had been. Howard sighed. He smiled a weary smile and paused. “Where to start?” he said. Then he told me about 2020. When the pandemic struck, dry cleaners were among the hardest-hit businesses in the country. It was a perfect storm of obsolescence. Offices shuttered and weddings were canceled.…