Is it really cheaper online?

Smart Mouth

I don’t blame people for shopping online. I am going to do some myself. I am also going to spend money right here with people who live right here.

Fact is you can find or something very close to “cheaper” online or at a big-box store if you search, look and/or haggle long enough.

But jeez, doesn’t it feel better to shop local when and if you can?

I don’t have anything against online shopping. Out of necessity and convenience, I do it often.

But I also think it is important to support the people who set up shop in my very own community. Those who have invested in my city.

Today is of Small Business Saturday, a day during the holiday season where the focus is on the small businesses that help knit the fabric that makes America great.

These moms and pops, aunties and uncles, second cousins, single ladies are doing it.

They pay taxes here and support causes here.

They hang fliers in their windows promoting local events and carry products made by people who live here. They have set up shop in spaces long abandoned to present something new.

They sell the unique, the hard to find and the exotic and often at a less expensive price than you’d think.

They are the dreamers you want to live next to and actually do.

Can you find or something very similar to online? Yes.

But is it really when you consider the true cost?

Why not go right down the block or a few towns over to see if the business owner has something your mom and pop, auntie or uncle, second cousin or single lady friend might want?

These business owners will, in turn, spend or invest that money in your community.

I don’t blame people for shopping online. I am going to do some myself.

I am also going to spend money right here with people who live right here.

It is not just because I feel obligated.

It is also because some of the coolest things I have ever given or received for Christmas have been purchased at small businesses.

They are the things that are special and cherished because they are not run of the mill.

Their value goes beyond the price on the tag, which may or may not be more or less than what one finds online or in a big-box store.

The purchases were votes in favor of life right here.

No matter the monetary value, those things are not cheap. Contact this reporter at 937225-2384 or email Amelia. Robinson@coxinc.com.