It certainly would not be considered a negative thing to truly understand where your money is going, as well as the quality of what you are buying or even investing in.

Supporting a local business in a small, rural town such as this is not just an admirable thing to do. In fact it could be argued from our standpoint that it’s a moral and ethical thing to do.

Having said that, yes giving a local business in Goshen County is extremely beneficial and helpful to everyone, but it goes so much further than this.

Of course perhaps when we visit a local business or restaurant it’s certainly going to cost just a little bit more, and this is what can cause us to underhandedly complain. That being said, we have to remember where that little bit of extra money is truly going and what it is we are buying.

When we choose, wait let us re-emphasize that word once more in this conversation. 

When we CHOOSE to shop at Wal-Mart or Target, or eat at Applebee’s or IHOP this is really what we are doing with our money.

Sure they have okay food and inventory at good prices. Though when we actually stop and look around at one of these places and see it for what it is, it’s almost impossible not to feel a sense of guilt when we enter a place like that.

Here’s why and how these things factually start at the bottom and work their way to the top. 

And it starts with us as individuals.

When we choose to purchase a large amount of corporate product or food, that money you are spending certainly is not going to help any clerk or waitress wearing a company name tag. For that matter, it certainly isn’t going to help feed their children or care for their aging parents.

You may have seen it once or twice in a humorous meme in this day and age of social media, but your money really is going (slowly but surely) to an almost disgustingly rich corporate CEO.

It does not go to help a friend or neighbor you know personally pay their bills, buy their four-year-old a new coat, or fill their tank up with gas.

It is almost unquestionably going to someone who doesn’t, and never will know of your existence to help purchase their sixth yacht, fifth beach house or twentieth Ferrari.

For lack of a better way of putting it, yes this is what perhaps many of us normal folk would call disgustingly rich.

Bottom line, our money goes to support nothing but greed.

While we are at it, the product or food we are buying is not that great in terms of quality anyways. Cutting corners and producing sub-par products has definitely become a common corporate tactic to profit more off people that can’t afford much to begin with.

The individuals who run these places do not know their employees and choose to not pay them a decent wage with benefits. Despite their endless supply of wealth, they could do so in a heartbeat at no noticeable effect on their very large bank accounts.

With that, billionaire CEO’s really aren’t “geniuses” as some of them claim to be, they are just really good at exploiting their labor and had the means to pull it off from the beginning.

When we choose to shop at a local business, yes you are going to pay a bit more. But in the long term, the feeling of knowing you helped one of your own community members becomes a soothing matter of principal.

That money once again is going to someone you know personally, and that person chances are is not all that wealthy. Well-to-do maybe, but certainly not worth an ungodly amount that no ordinary person could ever spend in several lifetimes.

There is no greed involved in this. It realistically makes spending a few extra dollars on a decent person selling a homemade quality product for their own people so much more rewarding.

In other words, our conscience feels so much better.

Moving forward, there are so many other things to be understood when it comes to supporting a small local business. It can be a gift shop, bar, restaurant, or grocery store it doesn’t matter.

For an average person to build their own business is something to be extremely proud of. It certainly is something other locals need to understand and be supportive of whether you choose to give them your business or not.

It takes nearly everything a person or family has to open a business; time, finances, energy, focus and sacrifice all come with the process.

Keeping it open and running requires all the more effort in years to come, and it is not easy.

Long days and sleepless nights are a common thing for a local business owner, yet they go out of their way to always produce something wholesome, real and non-processed to their customers.

They also take the time to know their employees and their families. They do everything they can to pay their employees a decent wage so that they may go home and put a decent meal on the table for six children.

If we are being truthful once again, an average earning business owner makes a far more valiant effort to pay their workers a decent wage even if that means less for them in their own pocket.

And it can all disappear in heartbeat if something goes wrong.

Knowing that now, there is one thing to to always keep in mind when it comes to supporting a local business in the community.

Never, ever ever say anything negative about anything local.

Never.

All that is going to do is not only bring a local hard working family down, but every single member of the community down with a devastating ripple-effect. 

Even something as trivial as saying, “This place is nicer than that place,” is exceedingly damaging and plants a dangerous and contagious negative seed in an individual’s minds.

Then it proceeds to spread and then it’s too late.

When one local business succeeds, we all succeed. When one goes down, we all go down.

Just remember that, and recognize the immense and unnecessary harm it can do to someone just by saying one negative thing. These things have an ironic way of coming around, therefore the best thing to do is never say anything negative. Period.

Of course occasionally we are bound to have a negative experience with another, and sometimes may hold a long lasting grudge. It happens and it is human nature. We do live in very close proximities to each other after all.

These grudges belong between whoever the problem lies with and should never be made public. Not when it comes to one of our own’s livelihood.

The only right thing to do would be to only say positive things about a local business, even if you internally feel that it’s not your cup of tea.

Once again, saying something negative can have detrimental effects to them, their well-being and eventually can even come back to haunt whoever it started with.

If we are asked perhaps which local restaurant or gym is better, the answer is simple so that everyone wins.

Simply say they are all great places to visit with great things to offer. Visit all of them, try everything out and you will definitely find what you are looking for.

This is how we as a community can win in the long term.

The good thing about everything we just talked about is that it requires very little effort on our own part. All it requires really is just a little conscience, an extra penny and a decent public word.