today I was over at my local ace hardware when my friend from mountain mike’s pizza stopped in to say hi. he calls me “father rob.” I love this guy. he is a huge encouragement to me and to everyone in the shopping center. I could tell that he goes by every store in the shopping center and says hi every morning.
we were making conversation and I said, “how is mountain mike’s?” and he responded in his thick accent (I don’t know his name or where he’s from- some friend I am!) “mountain mike’s is good. we keep it clean. we make it ready for customer. its hard right now, father rob. look at ace hardware. thirty thousand a month in rent. and sometimes no customer all day.” then he went on about how to fix the problems and how America needs the Lord. I was walking out towards starbucks. we walked a ways along the shops and he shouted into all of the stores: “BE GOOD TOGO’S! OLA MEXICO! HELLO BLOCKBUSTER!” I asked him what he was doing. he said he was going to get some coffee. I figured that he was going to starbucks too. he wasn’t he was going to the little donut shop. I told him that I was headed to starbucks. he said, “starbucks is a big corporation- the donut shop needs my money more than them. I’ll get my coffee here.”
what a great encouragement. as long as this recession is going, I’m going to do my best to spend my money on the local guy. I would encourage you to do the same. they need your money much more than the CEO of some large corporation does. when you need hardware, go to ace, not home depot. when you need a coffee, go to almaden roasting company or to the bear. when you’re getting lunch, go to the grill or to a taqueria, not some fast food mega-chain. when you need gas, go to the local guy. we need to look out for the local guy in these days. they say that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. let’s let the rich guy dip into his savings or get a loan for once. let’s look out for the local guy.
we were making conversation and I said, “how is mountain mike’s?” and he responded in his thick accent (I don’t know his name or where he’s from- some friend I am!) “mountain mike’s is good. we keep it clean. we make it ready for customer. its hard right now, father rob. look at ace hardware. thirty thousand a month in rent. and sometimes no customer all day.” then he went on about how to fix the problems and how America needs the Lord. I was walking out towards starbucks. we walked a ways along the shops and he shouted into all of the stores: “BE GOOD TOGO’S! OLA MEXICO! HELLO BLOCKBUSTER!” I asked him what he was doing. he said he was going to get some coffee. I figured that he was going to starbucks too. he wasn’t he was going to the little donut shop. I told him that I was headed to starbucks. he said, “starbucks is a big corporation- the donut shop needs my money more than them. I’ll get my coffee here.”
what a great encouragement. as long as this recession is going, I’m going to do my best to spend my money on the local guy. I would encourage you to do the same. they need your money much more than the CEO of some large corporation does. when you need hardware, go to ace, not home depot. when you need a coffee, go to almaden roasting company or to the bear. when you’re getting lunch, go to the grill or to a taqueria, not some fast food mega-chain. when you need gas, go to the local guy. we need to look out for the local guy in these days. they say that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. let’s let the rich guy dip into his savings or get a loan for once. let’s look out for the local guy.
5 comments:
Ordinary radical! I've always been a fan of the local guys. Ace is my favorite hardware store. I always used to buy laser pointers there when I was in jr hi. If you're going for just regular coffee and not anything fancy, the donut shops have better coffee anyways.
my parents' store depends on people who buy local, and buy from the "little guy". thanks for your post, rob!!!
Sonoma county is all about local products! I love it!
Ya, but heather that's because none of the big stores want to be associated with a city that smells like cow manure everywhere.
stop being jealous that you do not live here.
ps- buying local is also very "green"
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