Summer Reflection #41: Unclosed

Running some errands today meant dropping my wife to work at a little after eight in the morning, which isn't that early, but also, nothing is really open. I drove out to a shopping center to while away the time, and perhaps write, and that is where I find myself now. But even the café didn't open until nine so I wandered around the center, with barely anyone around, thinking how weird it seems. There were a few workers getting their store displays ready with their gates partially up, though for the most part, the stores were shuttered.

It reminded me of when I used to work in a shopping center over twenty five years ago, and would open up a music store, and we would open an hour before all the other stores in the center, because while there were almost zero walkthrough customers, there were a lot of employees, looking for something to do. So they would come in, browse the discs, listen to something, and often buy.

But it wasn't the sales that was the main reason, it was that when they would come in they would have a chat, talk about the music they were looking for, their day ahead and just hang out with us a little, while we were filling and neatening shelves. It was the social interaction that they were looking for and it became a morning hub, with people often dropping in with their morning coffee to start their day. The sales during this period were generally low, and it probably wasn't enough profit to cover salaries for the hour, but it also probably encouraged future sales too, as people tend to buy from where they feel comfortable and know people.

It is funny that this memory came to mind, because I haven't thought much about those times for years. I don't know if I have been lucky or not in workplaces, but for the most part, I have enjoyed working with most of my colleagues. While I didn't always get along with all of them, I would say ninety percent of them were pretty decent people, no matter how crappy the job might have been.

I think that this is what most people are like in the world, where on average, people are just trying to have a decent experience in their life, where they can feel safe, have some social connection, and enjoy themselves. It is the other ten percent of us that are continually looking to maximize personal gain by minimizing the opportunity of others. This probably happens through every nation, every culture, every religion.

Maybe one day, the ninety percent will realize that the social connection they benefit from, is far more valuable and powerful than the economic gain that drives our society. Profit needn't be a dirty word, because it can be generated in many different ways. There are ways to make a bit of money through activities that add social value also, but this way can never maximize the money to be made for an individual, because it will lead to greater distribution, not greater concentration of resources.

There has been a big change in retail over the last years, with far more people going online to the point that many of the young don't want to talk to anyone at all. However, while this isolation will maximize the profits for the corporations, the cost will be passed on to us, as the lack of social connection erodes who we are, and our quality of life experience, as doors of all kinds will start to close, and not reopen.

Taraz
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