Honor & Respect
A brief blurb about supporting local entrepreneurs
I was in a counseling session this morning…no shame first of all…with a counselor I’ve been going to for two years or so now. Towards the end of our conversation, I kind of nonchalantly brought up that I needed to get a tire replaced. Just one. The other tires are in perfectly good shape. I told her that I was going to spend the morning after I got home to get some prices. I didn’t want to pay a lot of money. Boy, am I glad I brought it up.
She mentioned about having an issue with one of her tires, and needed to have it towed somewhere because she was heading out of town. All of the big chain repair and tire places were closed or were closing, so she called a local guy that stayed open a little bit later in the evening, in a mostly run down part of the city. She had it towed there because even as he was getting ready to end his day, he told her to have it towed there, and he’d take care of it.
She referred me, and even though I was trying to call around the area, I was getting put on hold…the one chain place even had a woman from what sounded like a third world country and was adamant about me just making an appointment. I told her to transfer me to get a quote only. 5 minutes on hold, and I was done.
I called the local guy. He told me to just bring it in, and he’d do it for $53 installed for a good tire. When he took the tire off the rim, he took it into his garage, and returned a couple of minutes later, said that he found a small staple in it causing the slow leak, but that he seen it as pointless to spend even the $53 because he removed the staple, and plugged it with a professional grade plug.
$15 cash, out the door for his time. Fist bumped, and told him I’d refer him, and thanked him for his honesty.
Just a local guy earning a living, and treating people with dignity, honor, and respect. There are still good people out there, living in your neighborhood, in your town, who have their own non-chain local businesses that understand that we all need to save a buck or two for quality, friendly service.
Moral? Always support the local business when you can, and reminded me that most people are still good in the world.
