After speaking with someone this morning who looks almost identical to the lady that works in the corner variety & convenience store at the nearest intersection where I usually buy my staples when I run out of them, this brought to mind a very important priority in my life that I would like to share with you, and that is how I value the services that small business owners provide to every single one of us, for if it were not for them diligently working morning, noon, & night, for many long hours to sell the people their immediate supplies & staples, as well as offer other items that are unique in themselves, where would we be but like my foremothers & forefathers back in the “old country” who used to have to walk for miles to make it to the closest business establishment, including medical facilities as well.
There is one such place I would like to focus on in particular here, that is located about a minute away from me, within walking distance, that is run by a Chinese or Korean family (I am not quite sure which for I am only guessing based on their appearances). There is a fellow who works in there who I am assuming is the owner, whose life I helped to save about a month or so ago, within minutes after I wrote & published what I felt was one of my greatest blogs ever, when I decided to celebrate by making a fresh pot of coffee (as is my habit to do after I create a wonderful masterpiece), then on a whim I gathered together my last bit of change to purchase some cream for my coffee at their store. I walked in & went straight to the back where the coolers were & grabbed the smaller sized container of cream that was within my budget on hand, and walked to the counter, placing it there with my money.
The owner was no where in sight behind the counter and when I glanced over to my left, I noticed he was being held down by force by a woman who appeared to be high on some type of street drugs, mumbling stuff about wanting money & cigarettes, while what appeared to be her Charlie-Manson cohort & partner-in-crime stood in front of the door. I glanced behind me and noticed the few customers there just standing there frozen. The owner looked as if he was hardly even able to breathe and his face was looking very swollen and he was glancing at me in my direction pleading to get help, but I do not even know if he actually saw me there in his anguish & horrific plight. I looked at him and said, “Here’s the $3 for the cream” & I made a mad dash for the door, brushing past the guy by the door and tore down the street as fast as I could & into my house to grab my phone & call 911 (emergency) for the police. The episode I just described inside the store all elapsed within about one or two minutes at the most, and my reaction span was a matter of a few seconds, if I recall correctly, to the immediate urgent emergency at hand, and I did not think twice about endangering my own life. The only thing I thought of at the moment was to save the poor man.
Aside from the above facts I am telling you, I would also like to mention how important it is that we support these small business owners, whether how small of an amount we pay them. For example, I once noticed a sheet of paper on the window of the above-mentioned store, more or less stating that we should be supporting Korean store owners in their sale of cigarettes, rather than letting others take away their business by other means.
They are nice people and I especially love the beautiful & unique flowers they sell there as well; I usually buy 1 plant or flower from them a month; I bought my mother a Blue Hydrangea for Mother’s Day there. It cost over $15 with tax (quite pricy but well worth it). I cannot really afford these extra luxuries with the money I get every month, but I buy these things anyway, just to show my appreciation of beauty as well as for others to help them out, too.
NOTE: I must wait another almost 3 days until I get my next monthly allowance, and I am very hungry today. Yesterday I did not even eat at all & all I had was tea all day. I still have not eaten anything because what is left in my cupboards is not very good. I would rather eat spit.