Auntie Charo's Soapbox

Everybody's saying the economy's better, everything's looking up....well, maybe not everything...for example, at the island's biggest and busiest mall, Micronesian Mall, Carl's Jr. closed its doors and in the heart of Pleasure Island in Tumon, GameWorks closed it's doors this weekend........how's that for the economy getting better.
A few months ago there was a lot of hype about Home Depot opening up in Tamuning....I ain't seen no ground breaking...which I suppose is good for Oceanic Lumbe, Ace and Benson. Business is brisk at K-Mart and I'm thinking that they're feeling pretty secure these days cuz their prices keep rising and rising like flour and yeast put together on a hot day in Louisiana! Friends used to buy their stuff at K-mart because it was cheaper there than on the base....these days, the same items are now cheaper on base than at K-mart....guess we can blame it on Saddam and the oil prices....alas, there's the issue of Iran and their oil and the Palestian-Hammas situation thingy going on....I'm sure you can put that into the geopolitical can of worms that would be a good excuse for the increase in prices....yeah, the increase in power and water...that's always a good one to use.....
Wuz at the Capriciossa in Agana last Friday and it wasn't as crowded as it usually is...perhaps it wasn't a double payday, perhaps it's because there are a few more eating places to choose from in Agana...but then they were always there when the eatery was crowded-standing room only at times...so that night, the place lost money just keeping the air-conditioners running.
Even heard that Duty Free has its clerks earning their keep on commission basis....yikes.....with the new and cold, morgue appearance of the new place in Tumon, I'd have a hard time selling anything, let alone have the spirit to push the expensive goods to the poor tourists...but then a little touting never hurt anyone, huh?
Hmmmm, maybe we should start teaching touting in first grade or include it as part of our Direct Instructions so that when our kids are old enough they've got the gift and can fit into any tourist related job on Tumon....imagine how well they'd do at the airport just on commissions alone!!! Gosh, we could even convince people to park their cars at the airport and earn commissions if they parked their cars there for days at a time instead of hours at a time! Wow, what a thought! Tout...(push to sell)...a four letter word....every Duty Free Employee's life depends on it! Tout, you can't live without it!
I digress, but the next time you shop at Duty Free and the clerk has been nice to you and you've kept her from helping someone that could have/would have bought something from her and she could have/would have made a commission.....feel sorry for her, she could have bought a package of cherries from Payless Markets for $10.00 a bag with the commission she lost....feel sorry for her....don't waste her time. Oh yeah, those cherries are expensive, but they're tart and you can use them as a salad dressing because they're too sour to eat....you know, if you life gives you lemons make lemonade? If you buy a $10.00 bag of cherries at Payless and they're sour, make vinagrette dressing!
Oh, the economy? We're surving....but it's an election year and some of us are going to try like hell to convince you that we've recovered...we've rebounded........and......you can fool some of the people......etc....etc...etc...