Frazz by Jef Mallett for November 27, 2021

For really rustic, go to the people who still make that stuff themselves, by hand. (Not kidding, kids, they’re still out there!)

I really do much prefer that sort of experience. The park, not so much the stuff…

What’s meant by “a click?”

Today is the day dedicated to Shop Small….support your local merchants and keep more of your dollars in your local community. Your local shops pay local taxes that support your town and county and employ your neighbors and friends. Many also sell local produce, products and art/crafts.

We have a downtown like that in Reykjavík – a bit too many tourist junk shops but otherwise quite nice.

Amen.

There are sales folks who can carry that off an are make shopping most enjoyable, even in the crowds. But then there are the others who . . .

The “downtown” in my smallish hometown seems to do OK. One of the things they did— years ago — was to install a gigantic free parking area just off Main Street.

we have banners downtown that say " Be Loyal, Buy Local". We try, but Walmart dominates the town now that al the small shops are mostly gone because go them!

We have a beautiful, high-end, family-owned used furniture business and we’re excited for today’s shop-small! It’s really a wonderful thing!

When I go on vacation I try to find the local places to shop for gifts and meals. The prices are usually quite competitive with the chain stores. After this almost 2 years of craziness we have been though with the pandemic, local merchants need all the support they can get. I always bring my patience with me when I shop :).

Boy, this hits home . I used to really enjoy going out to shop in my town at all the small shops we use to have. Sadly, they are gone now. Small restaurants I enjoyed and frequented are gone too. I am not sure Wally World did it all. The kind of stuff purchased there is not what those shops use to carry.I have a locally owned shoe store that i love that is struggling. This year they can not get their orders filled for their store. People have not been working, Covid. The economy. I have heard many times that the ever increasing commercial rental rates have risen so high they could not longer keep the doors open. Inflation out of control.I do believe that Amazon Prime and other online outlets have changed the way we purchase things today. I am sure it is not for the betterment of us as a community. We hate what we see happening to us. Yet we continue to support this new paradigm.The proponents of a cashless society and tracking your every purchase and payments are winning with this system. Throw in video surveillance everywhere we go and whoops! We are living the nightmare. How quickly they take away from us the freedoms we have enjoyed. How they love to know everything we say and do.But, if they can just keep us so busy hating each other with their divisions of race and politics they have a clear path to dominance.

Today we are going into town to shop and eat and just hang out. And get the doggos back into town. Next week we have reservations at a hotel in Victoria and are going to spend a 4 day weekend down there just shopping and eating and doing stuff in places that are open. The Mrs is of the opinion that “Roughing It” means waiting 45 minutes for room service and not feeding a LuftJagdStaffel of hungry mosquitoes. But DeHavilland Mosquitos would be the best things to make a mess of Messerschmitts. And my mind is going. Daisy, daisy……

I think I saw that place in “Rent”. Angel says, “Let’s get a better one,” and then “No, no, no, no…”