Thanksgiving is coming up shortly, and I anticipate its arrival with the same enthusiasm I feel sitting in the gynecologist’s waiting room. (That poor bird with its legs in the air…) What I am looking forward to comes the following weekend: Small Business Saturday. Now, admittedly, this is just a made-up holiday concocted by American Express to make it look like they give a flying fruitcake about small business; however, it brings customers by the Prius-load to my bookstore, all cheerily looking to support local businesses rather than ruthlessly scrabbling for the last Disney Light-Up Frozen Realistic Hair Extension Play-Doh Kit. So, don’t think I’m complaining. Rather, I ask you to raise a small glass of beer with me.
I am assuming most of you know the basics of why one shops local, but I’ll go ahead and preach anyway:
- 68% of all money spent locally goes back into the community through wages and taxes and change dropped on the ground
- You support members of your community, not distant CEOs on yachts somewhere in the Caribbean
- You can be rightfully self-righteous