Friday, January 23, 2009

His and hers



Item of the week


We were saddened to hear news this morning of a customer whose wife had just been laid off from her job. He requested that I send his order to a work address, so that he could quietly smuggle it into the house. She is not an avid silver collector, and wants him to keep a lid on the antique buying until the economic picture brightens a bit. He believes that it’s important to keep making purchases for his collection (and elsewhere), or things will continue to remain dim. Who is right? Issues of marital discord notwithstanding, I choose to side with the gentleman. Quelle surprise, non?

Allow me to defend my point of view, which you dear reader no doubt suspect is biased if not downright mercenary. Grand issues such as global warming or worldwide recession tend to make us feel helpless. What can we do, as individuals, to turn the tide against such massive calamities? Well, we can each turn off the light when we leave the room. At least you and I may do so—my kids seem to be incapable of this feat… Such a tiny action seems utterly insignificant in the face of rising sea levels and melting glaciers, but this is hardly the case. The trick is to train one’s self to make the right choice each and every time a course of action which may affect the environment, or for that matter the economy, must be chosen. Then, the summation of these miniscule decisions becomes immensely powerful in solving the problem at hand.

Now back to our silver spoons. Any host or hostess likes to have a fine looking table when entertaining. You could go to Bloomie’s and buy some very snazzie looking servers. But they’re probably made in China, and look better than they really are. Or, you could select a fine item from Cherner’s stupendous inventory. Before making the purchase, ask yourself this question: where will my spoon, or teapot, or tureen find itself fifty or a hundred years from now? Will it be in an antique shop, or taking up space in a landfill? OK, the latter may be a bit extreme, but you get the idea. Buying an antique that’s already been around for at least a hundred years and still retains quality and value is a pretty much a guarantee that no resources will be wasted. It is a small choice which also helps someone, in this case hopefully Yours Truly, retain his job and have a few dollars to spread around in order to help his countrymen retain theirs!