My new home away from home
I've found a new store that I'm dangerously in love with. How I found it is a story in itself.
After a birthday party for James' friend this afternoon, I took a cruise down Main St. in Falmouth vainly searching for a music store. I had to buy a new cable for the electric guitar my other gave me last week; the one the music store sold her was bunk and made a horrendous feedback noise no matter what it was connected to.
I gave up after a cruise all the way down the road, and figured I'd go to Wal-Mart. I know they sell electric guitars so I figured I could buy a cable there.
Now, if you know me, you know I hate Wal-Mart. It's not just the shopping experience. It's the knowledge of how they treat their workers and suppliers, the negative effects they have on small businesses, and the strong arm tactics they use to get into the towns they're in. And when I pulled into the parking lot and swallowed my pride, I heard James pipe up from the back seat.
"Daddy, don't you hate shopping at Wal-Mart?"
There it was. The six-year-old voice of my conscience. I thought about it for a moment and said, "You're absolutely right, James. Let's go home." I popped the van back into Drive and drove away.
But instead of going back the way I came, I went out the back way, onto Spring Bars Road. Directly across the street from the Wal-Mart parking lot is a small strip mall that I'd driven by but never really looked in at.
And there at one end is a little store called Harmony Hut. This place fixes and reconditions stereo gear, computers, TVs and electronics of all shapes and sizes. And they sell guitar cables. And picks. And amps. And used video games. Lots and lots of used video games.
I struck the motherlode. I came home with a bag of stuff dirt cheap, including some long out-of-print Sega Saturn games.
This place looks like a store that I'd make, if I was in retail. It's a bloody mess. It looks like my office, seriously. Of course, the guy that owns the place is the only one who knows where to find stuff.
Anyway, I love my new home away from home.