Broadway Books:

The madness that is the current state of affairs in our economy honestly hasn't bothered me much. I consider myself lucky to have a job in the face of all of the layoffs that are happening around me and my CEO has promised openly that our company will not be letting go of anyone. Thus, I've just managed to go about my business as usual. I'm not afraid to spend my money on things I want or on people I love. I even take pride in not paying much attention to the woes of the financial world. I own no stocks, don't even know how to buy em. I generally live check to check and I like it that way, it's simple.
Sometimes it takes a slap in the face to wake someone up. You hate to be the one getting the rude wake-up but eventually the initial sting fades into nothingness when you realize that there's either work to be done or attention to be focused elsewhere. Yesterday I was on the receiving end of that wake-up call.
My mother has owned and operated an independent bookstore for the better part of 20 years. Broadway Books has been a staple in NE Portland and has developed a wonderful, loyal clientele. This store is my mother's passion and she's been an outstanding success in her endeavors. She makes me unbelievably proud.
Broadway Books outlasted the neighborhood move-in of perpetual small-business-ruiner, Boarder's, even turning a profit every year after Boarder's was in the hood. The wonderful people of Portland love her store. Search "Broadway Books" in google and notice the glowing reviews the store receives on the internet... yelp, citysearch, insiderpages... people have gone out of their way to explain to the world how great an independent business Broadway Books is and has always been. There's even this gem I found on youtube:
Well, it seems this economical fiasco has made it's way into my peripheral. The aforementioned slap in the face came in the form of a brief e-mail from my equally amazing father. In this e-mail, my father told me that business this winter season at my mom's store had been incredibly bleak. So much so that the future of the store could possibly be in jeopardy. Because I know how much this store means to her, I just sat at my desk in near tears for hours. Then I got angry. Then I thought I'd do everything I can to help from my remote location here in San Francisco. I wrote famous people on twitter.com asking for them to please mention her store to get more people there. I mentioned it through my own twitter account and on facebook.com. Now I'm digging into my own pockets and offering you some incentive.
There are two weeks left before Christmas. My parents are coming to visit me on Christmas day and I want to see my mother smiling.
One of the "tweets" I wrote on twitter the other day said "if you're in Portland do me a favor??? Buy a book at Broadway Books. No wait, buy 3 of em. I'll buy you a burrito the next time I'm in town." The later it got yesterday the more I felt like making (most of) that a reality. So, here's the deal... I wanted this to be a surprise to a number of my friends and I haven't told many of them this yet but I'll be in Portland to visit January 15-19, 2009. Now, about that burrito. Meet me at Cha Cha Cha on SE Hawthorne in Portland on Friday January 16th at 6PM with a receipt from Broadway Books for over $50 and between today's date and Christmas and I'm buying your kind ass a burrito. I've got about a grand left on my one credit card -told you I was a simpleton- which equates to roughly 166 of you spending at least 50 bucks a pop. That means an additional $8,333 of revenue for a deserving staff at Broadway Books. I'd never feel better about diving into a thousand-dollar hole, all-the-while supporting another local independent business. I suppose I'd have to cap it there, at 166 peeps but here's to hoping I reach that cap.
I hope to see at least one of you there, please help me. Pass this along. Getcha a free burrito! Support local independent business! Get off of the internet/your ass!
If it's not books you're after then please spend your money at another independent business, they're all struggling right now.
Don't be slapped in the face, shit hurts. Understand that the economic sting will subside, will also fade into nothingness. If that seems a long shot, consider it optimism, a virtue I learned from growing up the son of my mother.
Best,
a