A friend of mine drank the “buy local” kool-aid that I’ve been pushing on this blog and elsewhere. Convinced that she could have a genuine impact on the town in which she lives by choosing local options when they exist, she went out and started doing something about it. And, from what she tells me, it was empowering. It was perfect… at least for a while.

Every time she spent a dollar at a local coffee house instead of at Starbucks, she felt great. There was this surge of happiness as she envisioned the dollars spent there circulating back through the same local economy several times over. She thought about the people she was supporting and how they in turn would support others. With each swig of locally roasted and brewed coffee, she thought about the local accountants, bankers and attorneys who counted the owner of the coffee shop as a client. And she thought about all of their bright-eyed little kids going off to public school, making it better in the process. She thought about the other entrepreneurially-inclined individuals in town who, seeing what was happening, might choose to increase their involvement, possibly opening shops of their own, or holding events like our Shadow Art Fair. From her perspective, there was no end to what could be accomplished.

So, her involvement in the community grew, and she started getting others involved. She could feel that a movement was growing, and it made her happy. Her town, at least in her eyes, was becoming a better place, and she felt as though she was instrumental in making that happen.

As we all know, however, all good things must come to an end. It was inevitable, but at some point she started losing faith. I don’t want to get into all the details here, but let’s just say that the closer she got to local business people, the less she felt like idolizing them. Over the last few months, the petty jealousies between them started to emerge. And she began hearing stories from friends about business practices that didn’t sound altogether kosher. There were stories of employees being harassed and questionable accounting practices. She managed to keep it all in perspective and stay positive about it, though, until a locally owned auto shop tried to rip her off a few days ago… That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Although she had gotten great service from a mechanic at a franchise of a national chain garage for years, she found out about an independent garage that was closer to her house and decided to give them a chance. After taking her car there for an oil change, she was told that she was in dire need of new brake pads. Since the estimate they gave her seemed high, she decided to get a second estimate from the franchise. An hour after dropping the car off, she got a call from her trusted mechanic – her brake pads, while not brand new, had maybe 10,000 miles left before they needed replacing. The owner of the independent shop had told her they were basically gone, that she was taking her life in her own hands if she left without having the work done.

Sure, he could have misread the pads, but my guess — and hers — is that he lied in hopes of milking her for a few more dollars. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the reality of the situation. Buying local, as many of us have pointed out here, is not in itself a cure for all that ails us. There are bad local business owners wherever you go, and there always will be. Unfortunately, you come face-to-face with them when you shop at a locally-owned store, whereas at a nation chain they remain hidden. Some people lie, cheat and steal. My advice to my friend, however, is not to give up on her town, but to keep patronizing those businesses that she’s had good experiences at, and continuing to try others when the opportunity presents itself… Buying local doesn’t mean buying stupid. It doesn’t mean supporting local shops when it’s foolish to do so.

And, to local businesses here and elsewhere, I offer this piece of advice… If people in your community are, as we are here in Ypsi, trying to evangelize and build a “buy local” movement, then the least that you can do is to meet them halfway. If you don’t, I’m afraid that the movement will be short-lived. The goodwill won’t last forever, and sooner or later, unless you’re providing good, honest service at a fair price, the whole “buy local” campaign will dry up and blow away. And, it’s in all of our best interests to see that this doesn’t happen. (I’m not suggesting that business owners necessarily police one another, but the guy who owns the coffee shop needs to realize that he’s being affected by the person next door who is ripping people off, etc.)

So, what does this mean in terms of Ypsi. Well, I just had a beer with Brian Cors, the fellow who launched DowntownYpsi.org and I think we’re in agreement that we (those of us providing content) are not doing anyone any favors if we gloss over the negative things in our community. So, from now on, we’re thinking that the editorial voice of the site will be a bit less cheerleaderish. Don’t get me wrong, we still want to stay positive. Primarily, we want to share good news about our community, such as tips as to where one can find good deals and good service, however, from now on, I don’t think we’ll be so quick to shy away from mentioning where a business owner might be able to do a better job. For instance, I think it’s fair to say something along the lines of… “I love the burgers at Restaurant X, but I’ve noticed over the past year or so that the quality of their pizza has been steadily decreasing. As a result, I generally buy pizza from Restaurant Y. Hopefully Restaurant X gets their act together. I’ll be checking back in January to see what it’s like. In the meantime, if you have thoughts on their pizza, or any other menu items, leave a comment.” Sound fair enough?