I have always enjoyed shopping. Ever since I was a kid, I loved to go to the mall. It was not always about the purchase, it was also about the activity and the social aspect as well. Going to the mall with my mom and now my children is a good way to interact, converse, and enjoy the day.

I must admit I am getting concerned about the number of stores closing and the number that are predicted to file bankruptcy soon. It is hard for stores to stay in business today. Internet shopping (Amazon) is hurting the mom and pop stores as well as the department stores we love. I for one do not find it possible to buy my clothes (especially pants) on-line. I want to try them on and see how they fit. I do not want to settle for something that is not what I wanted because of return shipping costs. I want to feel the fabric and know exactly what I am getting and not be surprised that the color is off or the fabric is cheap. Not only this, I want to go shopping! I want to chat and browse and have a good time.

I have decided that I will not make any on-line purchases this holiday season for anybody on my gift list unless it is from a particular store I want to support (sorry Amazon). I want to support my local stores and the places I like to shop. I want to do my part to keep them in business. Will it help? Who knows. But it will make me feel better knowing I tried to do what I felt was right.

Alan Jackson’s song “Little Man” is a good reference…

I remember walk’in round the court square sidewalk
Lookin’ in windows at things I couldn’t want
There’s Johnson’s Hardware and Morgans Jewelry
And the ol’ Lee King’s Apothecary
They ware the little man
The little man

I go back now and the stores are empty
Except for an old coke sign dated 1950
Boarded up like they never existed
Or renovated and called historic districts
There goes the little man
There goes the little man

Now the court square’s just a set of streets
That the people go round but they seldom think
Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut em down
And killed the little man
Oh the little man
He pumped your gas and he cleaned your glass
And one cold rainy night he fixed your flat
The new stores came where you do it yourself
You buy a lotto ticket and food off the shelf
Forget the little man
Forget about that little man

He hung on there for a few more years
But he couldn’t sell slurpees
And he wouldn’t sell beer
Now the bank rents the station
To a man down the road
And they sell velvet Elvis and
Second-hand clothes
There goes little man
There goes another little man

Now the court square’s just a set of streets
That the people go round but they seldom think
Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut em down
And killed the little man
Oh the little man

Now the stores are lined up in a concrete strip
You can buy the whole world in just one trip
And save a penny cause it’s jumbo size
They don’t even realize
They’er killin’ the little man
Oh the little man

Now the court square’s just a set of streets
That the people go round but they seldom think
Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut em down
And killed the little man
Oh the little man

It wasn’t long ago when I was a child
An old black man came with his mule and his plow
He broke the ground where we grew our garden
Back before we’d all forgotten
about the little man
The little man
Long live the little man
God bless the little man