 |
Editor's ViewpointMeditations Of A Minnesota Mossback |
All Of One's Eggs . My Thin Wallet . Turning The Tide.
Last summer I cut out a comic strip depicting a couple strolling past an empty lifeguard station on a beach. The sign advised, "Lifeguard ON duty - via customer service in India." One of the pair said, "Okay, I stand corrected. Outsourcing can get worse."
It may have.
My dear friend, K., was experiencing excruciating headaches and joint aches. She called her after-hours medical help line. She was patched through to a helpful voice that advised her to "rest" and "apply cold compresses."
K. confirmed later that this advice wasn't coming from a clinic in St. Paul but from a well-thumbed medical notebook at Call Centre India. (Later, she headed for Mayo Clinic and was diagnosed with Lyme Disease.)
Perhaps judging the quality of medical advice by the route it takes on the phone line is silly; however, when it comes to the provision of goods and services, the counsel against entrusting all of one's eggs to one basket continues to appeal to my sensibilities.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. lost 3.1 million manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2006. It would seem to me that sending jobs overseas makes our country less resilient in times of economic upheaval.
So what can I do, with my thin wallet, to influence the world economy?
Just enough, I think. The answer lies in the power of one.
I remember that in the 1960s, a colleague of my father's had a family of four children, a house - and no garbage service. Mark separated all the trash that left his house. He recycled glass, steel cans, aluminum foil and newspapers. He used milk cartons, office paper, and cereal boxes to start the fire in his wood stove. He composted.
As I recall, Mark was not the sort to write a letter to the editor, get on a soapbox or worry too much about his carbon footprint.
Mark was just doing his bit.
Although his friends all thought he was a little nuts, we now know that Mark's environmental vision was simply ahead of its time.
So, instead of worrying about the world's economy, I am redefining my economic vision: I'm going to choose to spend my money in my neighborhood as often as I can.
Dollars spent closer to home create jobs and benefit neighbors who own businesses here - and who hold jobs here.
And although I made a resolution never to make any more New Year's resolutions, I am continuing to change my purchasing habits.
That poinsettia on my table (the one I haven't killed yet) came from Debra at Centerville Floral and Gifts.
We bought our newest snow shovel from Steve at the Hugo Feed Mill.
That drive to Maplewood to buy pet food is history; we have a perfectly good pet food store right here in Centerville, and it's always fun to visit with Eileen and Kuba.
Minnesota wines get better every year - the Raspberry Infusion dessert wine I tasted at St. Croix Vineyards in Stillwater this fall was amazing. Today, I discovered that John at On The Rocks in Hugo carries it.
My last car wash was at Jason's Bobby & Steve's in Lino Lakes.
Old habits are hard to break, especially when I hear that nagging question in the back of my mind saying, "How can it possibly matter where I shop?"
But I know it does matter.
And though I understand that as a consumer I am merely one drop in the economic bucket, I also believe that, together, we can turn the tide.