Boycott Big Business
Please boycott big business. It is slowly destroying the integrity of the
world.
A Rite-Aid is built across the street from a small, independently owned
convenience store. A Wal-Mart comes to town and consumes all retail business within a
forty mile radius. A kid new to snowboarding decides to purchase all of his equipment at a
sports superstore with super-duper prices because it will save him a little money. Coffee
is quicker at Starbucks. Books are more readily available at Barnes and Noble. Something
is very wrong with the world.
Gargantuan corporations are afforded the luxury of having lots of
money. Because of this, they can, realistically, offer super service, bargain prices,
spend millions on flashy advertising, still gain business in the process, and slowly take
over the world. What is wrong with this picture? What is missing? Soul.
I love a bargain, and I won't deny it, but I have come to terms with
the reality that I would rather pay a little more for friendliness and meaningful personal
exchange than live in a formless, commercialized, albeit cheaper, world.
Support the local, family owned convenience store, where the letters on
the sign are crooked and they ask you how your folks are doing when you go in to pick up
the newspaper. Shop at thrift stores and reuse what others have given away, reducing the
waste of the world. Go to your local, rider-owned snowboard shop, get free ratchet straps,
and discuss the latest in camo and selling-out with someone who knows what you are talking
about. Sit on a comfortable couch in a legitimate cafe, read a book, and drink out of
mismatched mugs. Give something back to somebody real whenever you make a purchase.
Back in the glorious day, markets weren't superized, family owned meant
business, and coffee upgrades included intimate conversation nooks, tattered pillows, and
open mic night. As the years pass, that day is harder and harder to recollect. Please
support the independent little guy/gal over the faceless corporate giant and bring that
intimate, family-owned beat back.
-Rachel Cotton