Thursday, September 25, 2008

Support Local Businesses!

For the last month, our digital camera has been getting flakey right before the most untimely events (birth of my first niece, Lucy's first day of preschool, Megan's 40 minute student-of-the-week presentation...) It was so unpredictable that I had to keep a disposable one with me just in case.

I took the broken camera in to Christian Photo here in Des Moines. I know the owner, Brian Christian, as I had his daughter in Kindergarten a few years ago. He had repaired it once before that year when it was dropped by one of my students (it was my fault for keeping it in a very precarious position). This time around, Brian, told me it wasn't worth it to open up and fix as it was a couple years older. He showed me a lovely new model...

Now Dave and I are on a budget and a new camera was definitely not in the plan. After all, the camera still worked sometimes - just not before unprecedented events. I left the store, went online to do some searching and comparing. I didn't even last ten seconds with my search. My heart wasn't in it. I didn't even bother to check if I could save a few bucks somewhere else.

Why shouldn't I buy the camera from them? They are knowledgeable, helpful, and I trust them. I really do make an effort to purchase locally when I can and definitely give repeat businesses when I receive quality service. The service is better and definitely more personable. With the unstable economy and questionable food sources, buying locally is the right thing to do.

No comments: