Get in Here and Buy Something!
That’s what is posted on a small sign outside the retail greenhouse in our village of Gays Mills, Wisconsin, where we live.
It’s not your usual come on for a retailer. If I said it to you as you passed our shop on the sidewalk, I would be rude and insenstive. Still, I chuckle to myself everytime I see it.
We live in a village of 625 and counting down — but that’s another blog post. Anyway, if we want the greenhouse to stay open, we have to walk in and spend money, regularly. The greenhouse owner knows that, and we know that, so that’s why that little sign is posted near his front door, and why I see it when we stop each spring and fall to buy plants.
The same is true of any business, whether it’s down the steet from you or not. The technologies of travel and information exchange have made new forms of community possible and real. In many ways, the Fair Trade community would not be possible if not for speedy travel and instant communications. It’s allowing me to talk to you, a member this particular community, even if I never met you before.
But just because we have a global reach doesn’t mean we don’t need you to survive and thrive. We have a little community too, it’s just spread out over four or five continents and we all have to support each other.
So, let’s take a look at that sign again:
“Get in here and buy something!”
… and keep shopping your good values!