Readers: Help save a bookstore
I don't know Salathiel Palland.
And although I've seen a fair piece of the world in my 67 years, I've never been to Farmington, Michigan in my life.
That means, of course, that I've also never been to her Steampunk-themed Off The Beaten Path bookstore in Farmington. In truth, it's pretty doubtful that I ever will step inside it to buy a book because, well, I do live in Spain.
So why did I just send Ms. Palland $150?
I did because she's trying to keep her bookstore open and is using GoFundMe.com in an effort to raise a fairly modest amount of money - $15,000. That money will be used to pay for some renovations, pay for an expansion project and to recoup some losses she suffered during the last year.
So, why should I care if a small business in Michigan stays open or not?
Good question.
Here are my five reasons for caring about the fate of Off The Beaten Path.
First of all, it's not just any small business.
It's a bookstore.
I'm a reader and because I am that makes Off The Beaten Path special, at least in my mind, and, therefore, worthy of support.
Second, it's a bookstore with a real interest in not only its customers but also in its community. In the past it has supported a wide variety of community events ranging from food truck rallies to giving local authors, artists and musicians a place to showcase their work. I know this because there's a video on the GoFundMe.com site in which people from the community talk about how supportive Off The Beaten Path has been in the past.
Third, Sal Palland is one of only 52 black men and women who own an independent bookstore in the entire United States. If we truly believe in the whole idea of diversity and if we honestly believe in the concept of an inclusive society then it's imperative that we support minority business owners.
Fourth, Sal really has no option but to try crowd-funding her business so she can weather what is, for her, a tough time.
The reality is that she is a black woman who owns a small business. Those same banks that crashed the economy a few years back by wildly speculating on pie-in-the-sky projects and making sub-prime mortgages won't give her a loan that amounts to less money than an average CEO's annual bonus.
"People say just get a loan, but as a black woman that owns a bookstore that caters to alternative genres, banks just don't get me and aren't inclined to risk a loan on a bookstore. I'm nowhere near too big to fail," she points out.
And because she's "nowhere too big to fail" that means Congress isn't going to step in and bail her out despite the fact she's asking for less money than a Senator's annual lunch tab.
Finally, I care if Off The Beaten Path survives because it's just the right thing to do.
Politicians of every stripe love to stand on stages and proclaim their undying devotion to small businesses but we all know they don't really give a damn about them. The truth is that a small business such as Off The Beaten Path pays more in federal and state taxes than many gigantic corporations do.
And we all know why that is.
The same holds true for all those highly paid right-wing and left-wing idealogues who spend so much time ranting on radio and television about what's wrong with America. If they truly wanted to "fix" America they'd be doing something constructive, not screaming into microphones about what they perceive to be the state of the nation.
Instead of attacking each other, and everyone else who doesn't share their particular world views, they'd be writing checks to help some small business survive.
In the end, as it always does, it comes down to us; the average American living on a modest income to actually do something to help a friend or neighbor out. We're a pretty generous bunch, we average Americans, and thank God for that because if we had to rely on big shots to help us get over those humps in the road that we all encounter at some point in our lives we'd never get anywhere.
As I said before, I don't know Sal Palland.
But that doesn't mean I can sit by and watch her dream die.
So, let me end this by saying that I'm not asking you to donate $150 or even $50. I'm asking that you send what you can, even if it's only $5, to help keep her dream alive.
Because, in the end, it's the right thing to do.
If you'd like to know more about Sal and her bookstore, visit http://www.gofundme.com/OTBPBooks.
And although I've seen a fair piece of the world in my 67 years, I've never been to Farmington, Michigan in my life.
That means, of course, that I've also never been to her Steampunk-themed Off The Beaten Path bookstore in Farmington. In truth, it's pretty doubtful that I ever will step inside it to buy a book because, well, I do live in Spain.
So why did I just send Ms. Palland $150?
I did because she's trying to keep her bookstore open and is using GoFundMe.com in an effort to raise a fairly modest amount of money - $15,000. That money will be used to pay for some renovations, pay for an expansion project and to recoup some losses she suffered during the last year.
So, why should I care if a small business in Michigan stays open or not?
Good question.
Here are my five reasons for caring about the fate of Off The Beaten Path.
First of all, it's not just any small business.
It's a bookstore.
I'm a reader and because I am that makes Off The Beaten Path special, at least in my mind, and, therefore, worthy of support.
Second, it's a bookstore with a real interest in not only its customers but also in its community. In the past it has supported a wide variety of community events ranging from food truck rallies to giving local authors, artists and musicians a place to showcase their work. I know this because there's a video on the GoFundMe.com site in which people from the community talk about how supportive Off The Beaten Path has been in the past.
Third, Sal Palland is one of only 52 black men and women who own an independent bookstore in the entire United States. If we truly believe in the whole idea of diversity and if we honestly believe in the concept of an inclusive society then it's imperative that we support minority business owners.
Fourth, Sal really has no option but to try crowd-funding her business so she can weather what is, for her, a tough time.
The reality is that she is a black woman who owns a small business. Those same banks that crashed the economy a few years back by wildly speculating on pie-in-the-sky projects and making sub-prime mortgages won't give her a loan that amounts to less money than an average CEO's annual bonus.
"People say just get a loan, but as a black woman that owns a bookstore that caters to alternative genres, banks just don't get me and aren't inclined to risk a loan on a bookstore. I'm nowhere near too big to fail," she points out.
And because she's "nowhere too big to fail" that means Congress isn't going to step in and bail her out despite the fact she's asking for less money than a Senator's annual lunch tab.
Finally, I care if Off The Beaten Path survives because it's just the right thing to do.
Politicians of every stripe love to stand on stages and proclaim their undying devotion to small businesses but we all know they don't really give a damn about them. The truth is that a small business such as Off The Beaten Path pays more in federal and state taxes than many gigantic corporations do.
And we all know why that is.
The same holds true for all those highly paid right-wing and left-wing idealogues who spend so much time ranting on radio and television about what's wrong with America. If they truly wanted to "fix" America they'd be doing something constructive, not screaming into microphones about what they perceive to be the state of the nation.
Instead of attacking each other, and everyone else who doesn't share their particular world views, they'd be writing checks to help some small business survive.
In the end, as it always does, it comes down to us; the average American living on a modest income to actually do something to help a friend or neighbor out. We're a pretty generous bunch, we average Americans, and thank God for that because if we had to rely on big shots to help us get over those humps in the road that we all encounter at some point in our lives we'd never get anywhere.
As I said before, I don't know Sal Palland.
But that doesn't mean I can sit by and watch her dream die.
So, let me end this by saying that I'm not asking you to donate $150 or even $50. I'm asking that you send what you can, even if it's only $5, to help keep her dream alive.
Because, in the end, it's the right thing to do.
If you'd like to know more about Sal and her bookstore, visit http://www.gofundme.com/OTBPBooks.
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