Reacting to my piece about Dorothy Lane Markets earlier this week, MNB reader Lauren Redman wrote:
Who doesn’t want to be like Norman?!…I know I do, have and will keep saying it.
Happy the Dayton Journal caught up with the rest of us. A family that has never sat on its laurels, takes chances and shares the success with all of their colleagues and community. Proud to call him, and them, friends.
Got this email about our Black Friday/Cyber Monday coverage:
Even though I’ve worked for a retailer or for a retail real estate company for the last 25 years, I’ve always been a bit ambivalent about Black Friday. I participated haltingly, somewhat stymied by the fact that for 13 years I had to take the Friday after Thanksgiving off, but mostly because it just didn’t feel like I was buying anything that meant much to the recipient since I bought it because it was a “deal,” and I haven’t participated at all in the last 10 years.
Flash forward to last year when we decided a trip to London over the week of Thanksgiving was a better deal than paying the same amount to go to Phoenix to see family, and we were astounded to see Black Friday advertisements across many of the small shops throughout central London, even well before the actual day.
We asked a few shopkeepers and they commented that at first it was strange to them to celebrate what they felt was an American tradition, but now they were used to it, and it was becoming expected among the locals. They also commented that more than a few retailers had started sales weeks before Black Friday over the last few years, extending it for most of November. In our new European Thanksgiving holiday tradition, we traveled to Barcelona this year and found much the same as we did in London, with Black Friday sales abounding throughout the central core of the city. I did notice that most of the retailers who advertised Black Friday sales were international brands (U.K.-based?) and were also frequently mid-priced & youth-oriented apparel retailers.
It feels a bit as if, while it’s an ungainly mess here, we have effectively exported the tradition to other countries that have embraced it.
PS – I was astounded at the foot traffic that appeared over the course of the late afternoon/early evening in the “high street” shopping areas on Black Friday, which coincidentally, was the day the city seemed to use as an excuse to turn on all the Christmas lights that had been up for at least 5 days.
From another reader:
Cyber Monday was a thing in the early 2000’s because fast internet was available only in offices. Many folks at home were just half a step over a Modem connection back in the day.
You’re right. I’d forgotten.
On the subject of the economy, one MNB reader wrote:
Although inflation is slowing and jobs are still strong, wage growth the last three years has not kept up with the most critical daily need, food. While wages are up ~18% since before the pandemic, food is up 26% in the same period. Overall inflation is still running ahead of wage growth at ~3.6% avg inflation vs. 1.2 – 1.5% wage growth in 2023. In a household that does not have discretionary income, like my mom on a fixed income, their personal financial situation continues to worsen little by little. To them, all this talk of an improved economy is just that, talk.
Regarding the problems facing banana crops around the world, one MNB reader wrote:
When are we going to get it through our thick heads that monoculture is a bad idea? There are so many reasons why…but we just keep doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results (the very definition of insanity).
Potatoes, tomatoes, roses, citrus, and now bananas….and that’s just top of mind in the plant world.
And finally, reacting to my comments about the Yogi Berra documentary, “It Ain’t Over,” one MNB reader wrote:
I know you’ve had lots of comments on this. Still, I wanted to thank you for this tip.
The past holiday weekend was a good one. But a long one.
My older sister showed up on Wednesday. My hubby, Craig, and I cooked a full Thanksgiving meal for Thursday (it actually morphed into three meals across two states and three days).
Then, it was off to an over four-hour drive to Ohio on Friday to spend the weekend with our daughter’s family. That entailed keeping up with 2-year-old and 6-year-old granddaughters with never-ending energy (and a very large golden-doodle and best-cat-in-the-world). We returned to Michigan on Sunday with Craig driving through the first snow of the season. Too many drivers with amnesia as to how to cope. Slow going, for sure…
Yes, we enjoyed some great football. But Craig also had to endure WAY too many cartoons as well as numerous holiday movies on Hallmark and Lifetime.
So, this evening, when it was back to just the two of us, I served up a no-turkey-zone dinner along with “It Ain’t Over. “
Oh wow! We both enjoyed the documentary immensely. The way it brought tears to my eyes…especially with the attention to the family dynamics…might allow Craig to suggest this was actually a rom-com…leading my having to endure his choice of some more traditional action movie (maybe even a Western). Yet, it will all have been worth it.
I just had to write to thank you for this recommendation. Really. Just wow…
Thanks, as always, for all you do!
My work here is done.
The post Your Views: Just Like Norman appeared first on MNB.
View Original Article
