Thursday, November 18, 2010

What A Wonderful World

One of my favorite songs of all times is by Louis Armstrong, “What a Wonderful World”. If you haven’t heard it before, you are missing out on hearing an awesome song. Even though the lyrics were written years ago, when I listen to the words, it reminds me today how fortunate I am to be doing what I do to make a living. Being able to have an antique business like Country Roads, work with people of all walks of life daily, and also work with different charities of my choice, reminds me each day how good life is to me! I really do live in a “wonderful world” in spite of everything that goes on in our world today.

I’ve always made it a point to leave my own personal political opinions out of my daily store operations. But I don’t think I’m over stepping any boundries when I say that our world is a big mess right now! The violence, the racial intolerance of others, the poverty is all very overwhelming and sad. You can’t turn on the news or pick up a newspaper without hearing or reading about the daily tragedies in life. I worry what kind of world my future grandchildren will live in. Will it all change, or will they too have to struggle to survive in a world that is filled with intolerance of others? Will it still be a world where a person can being shot by just making a bad lane change on a freeway, or simply by the color of their skin, or their choice of lifestyle? I can only hope things will change.

When people shop at Country Roads, they are my customers, some are my friends, and in my eyes they are ALL the same. I don’t see a gay man buying plants in our garden, or a black woman buying a rose painting, or a tattooed young girl buying a vintage dress, or a Latino little boy buying a vintage story book. They are just like me, people, families, that like to shop for antiques, vintage merchandise, plants for their gardens and more. We talk about what they buy, we talk about their kids, we talk about plants, music and more. They enjoy the atmosphere that Country Roads has provided, along with our great merchandise. I’m pretty sure that our customers enjoy being greeted with a smile and know how very much we appreciate them shopping with us. And the best part about selling antiques and vintage stuff is no one ever asks about what “kind” of person previously may have owned the antique they are buying. When it comes to antiques, they come in all colors, styles and sizes and no one cares.

With summer here, we hope you will stop by the store and spend some time. Country Roads front door is always open to everyone! One thing our customers often ask us is, “can you do any better”, which refers to the price of an antique they are interested in. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could ask the world the same thing, “can you do a little better? I know we can if we strive to make it the world that Louis Armstrong saw. Yes, I too “hear babies cry, I watch them grow, they’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know” and I too think to myself “What a Wonderful World”.

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