coffee, bread and t-shirts

I can't believe that it has been a week already. And what a busy week it was. As I stated in my last blog, Janine's mom was here and was able to spend a lot of time with the kids. It just worked out that she was here for Shirley's big birthday bash at Rich and Corina's house (you guys are awesome for letting us use your place!). It was quite a bit of fun, for sure, as many friends showed up and we were able to barbecue and relax while the kids played and enjoyed the food and the pinata (the big hit of the day). Shirley seemed to really enjoy herself, and it was nice that all the people could show up.

The day before that we went to Silver Lake and hiked around a little bit. It was a beautiful day and a bit cooler in the mountains. I had taken the day off so we could do something like that and it was nice that it was such a great day for it. We ate breakfast on the way there and had a little snack lunch at the picnic tables at the lake. It was very relaxing and fun to just hang out with family in a serene setting. It was much better than working.

Janine and I also celebrated our 7th anniversary this Sunday. It is hard to believe that it has been seven years already, and who knew we would have a nine year old girl before our seventh wedding anniversary! Crazy. Anyhow, we were able to try out a steak house that I had seen/heard of a little bit since we have been here. We both got filet mignon and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was very delicious and very much a nice evening (or at least an hour and a half) where we could just talk and enjoy sitting down without three kids clamoring for our attention. Thanks to the Clemens and Meyer families for watching the kids while we ate, too! The same day was my first Father's Day. The kids got me a docking station for my iPod, which they were more excited to open than I was. It was a wonderful gift that I used almost immediately. The best part is that it has a clock with a sleep/alarm function so I can go to sleep and wake up to music...something I really haven't done in.. . .seven years! It's a great present, so thanks, kids (and Janine;)).

So tomorrow night is the first in a series of concerts that I will be attending this summer. My buddy Josh and I will be hitting up Bela Fleck and Chick Corea at Red Butte Garden tomorrow evening, for a time of good music, cribbage, and hopefully some food. I will also be hitting up Built to Spill, Son Volt, and Ryan Adams later in the summer. I am really hoping that Wilco and/or Damien Jurado come back through this year, as I have seen Wilco once when they came through and Damien Jurado three times. Most fall dates haven't been announced yet, though, so we'll have to wait and see.

Janine and I have recently been watching the documentary "Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices" lately. It is very interesting and informative. It doesn't necessarily tell things that are secretive, but things that we may not consider when we decide where it is that we spend our money. I remember as a kid while driving through my hometown that my parents spotted a fleet of UHaul vehicles parked at a local gas station. They commented on it as if it were the worst thing to ever happen, that this very non-local business had come to town. I don't even remember a local van/truck rental place, or any moving business of the sort, but I remember their sour taste as soon as they saw a business that would not help to develop the town in any economic sense whatsoever. It was interesting to me then, as an ignorant young boy, and more interesting to me now as one who is more well-versed in such issues. I can understand their disdain for such things, such promises of economic growth elsewhere, of taking money out of the pockets of the local and putting it into the pockets of the distant. It is the same with these grand stores that are invited into neighborhoods, given tax credits, and allowed to drive out businesses that have been around for a long time, family owned businesses. It is difficult to watch such things especially while I am very interested in starting a business of my own. How does it work? How will it survive? I know that coffee shop/bakery/t-shirts are different than Wal*Mart, but how can a personal business not be effected by the corporate giants who receive the subsidies that mom and pop cannot? How are they supposed to survive when their prices are being undercut by wholesale and cheap and unfair labor? Even with good service and offering product and atmosphere that others are not, how would we compare to Starbucks or other coffee big names? I remember how this affected us at the gas station that I used to work at, how when I began we would always run out, fill tanks for people, wash windows, check oil, etc. without giving it a second thought. Then the automated pumps. Then the game became getting people in and out quickly, because the more customers we can have in an hour, the more money we will make. It is simple math. But at what cost? We (the pump jockeys) took the wrath of angry customers, of how we didn't take the time to service a filling customer anymore. We were the recipients of discontent. But who really were the victims in this? The customer. They became the victims of the pushing of the product vs. the keeping of the clientele. It is vastly more important now to keep the customers/per/hour at the highest rate possible over against the life long customer. You don't care about the customer in the c/p/h model, only the end product or net gains. But we have lost something in all of this, as we shop for the cheapest price, driven to such things by a system that promotes companies undercutting and underselling their competition just to drive them out of business, all the while not caring about the customer, and certainly not caring about the employee. The employee is not a cost-effective part of business. The low-end employee simply sucks up resources and takes away from net gain end product. So let's replace them with automated pumps. And boost the c/p/h up. And see where that leads us. We lost a lot of money my last couple of years working there. The owner sold it not to long after that. Coincidence? I don't know. Just a good time to sell? I don't know. But the clientele was no longer a recognizable one. I still saw them on the road, just not in our parking lot. So what do we do? Can we regain what was once lost? When I worked for Starbucks (yes, I did sell my soul) I made it a point to memorize the drinks of people who frequented our store. I knew their names. And though I may have never met them, I knew the names of their spouses, their children, their pets (I am not a deranged stalker, here, folks). And they knew what they were getting from me when they walked in: a great drink and a friendly, recognizable face. When I left Starbucks I received many, many hugs and handshakes. They were not treated as c/p/h when I was there, and they knew that, and they enjoyed us and always came back because of it. If this business does happen, if we get the gumption and the right people, and the right money and the right place, I hope that it is a place where people feel appreciated, that they are not doing me a favor by buying an americano or a loaf of bread or a Frog Brotha t-shirt original, but that there are still some who consider it good to have a recognizable face and a familiar place to sit. So take that, Wal*Mart and Starbucks...I boycott you.

I need to go to bed.