Auntie Charo's Soapbox

I was happy to see that the Home Depot got the red carpet treatment. I think the last time any company got the red carpet treatment was when the folks at K-Mart opened....they got full-on treatment, even got the stop light thingy...thank God for that, bunches of people would be dead were it not for those lights! And it's a good thing, the red carpet thing....We should be private business 'oriented', putting out the red carpet not just for those coming from America(or off-island) but for those that come from those from our local families who put together their hard earned dollars, taking risks that their dreams will be realized. I know that there was a sorta red carpet treatment when the Sagua Managu opened, even got a QC(no taxes) when it opened several years ago (hmmm, did Home Depot get a QC?) And it was good of the governor to instruct his boys and girls at the various govGuam agencies to cooperate with the HD with the permitting processes so that the company could open before it's target month of August....but does this ever happen for Jesus Cruz' of the island?
I'm happy that HD is coming and that it's going to hire 200 employees. Unfortunately, probably all of those will come from Benson and Ace who have trained them how to use business machines and computers over the years, sadly, that's the way the 'cookie crumbles' as the youngsters are often heard to say. And the only ones who'll want to work at the old places will be our neighbors who come to Guam to fulfill their dreams....take a look at how many ring up your charges at K-Mart, or take your orders at the fast food drive-thru's...our local kids don't seem to like these entry level jobs...not sure if that's a good thing or not! The good thing is that our neighbor entry level people contribute to the tax base and that...is a good thing and it's said that for the most part, they tend not to bound from one job to the next...another good thing.
I glanced over K57's forum on thoughts of Benson and ACE and the coming of Home Depot and note how unhappy some people are about the two old friends(for some reason, I don't recall Oceanic Lumber and Southern Pacific) and remember what happened to the grand old friends the Town House, Gibson's and Jerry's as they quietly passed away after K-Mart opened its doors.
We all forgot how much these stores and their owners were a part of our lives as we passed their stores on the way to K-Mart. We forgot the donations to hundreds of local drives of all sorts, their families related in some ways to ours, if not related, then some way a friend or member of the same civic club. It's like that toilet paper story I told about Juan Flores.....people are disposable, after we're through using them, we throw them away. Likewise the businesses, once there's a bigger place with cheaper prices, we've no need for the older, less fancy store, no matter how long the company served the island, it's disposable as well, no matter how many employees there are working there.
So, before the arrival of Home Depot, I place my own red carpet down for the likes of Ace Hardware and Benson and would like to thank them for the helpful ways they've been to hubby and me with our constant barrage of questions. They've always had time for answers and always went out of their way to keep costs down when they could have charged more. The prices weren't as cheap as K-Mart's, but they can't purchase in the volume that K-Mart can and when HD comes to town, you'll note that even the grand dame K-Mart's prices will be costlier than those of HD...
There will always be a place for ACE and Benson....even after HD opens its doors! I hope we don't all forget those who have been our friends for years. I hate to see them die the way Town House, Gibson, Eileen Kershaw's, Jerry's, Diana's and other stores like them did.
I guess the next predator to worry about is GTA's arrival into the t.v. world....will it harm or kill MTV/kuentos? Is there room in this little market for the two to survive?
I know, it's pretty elementary, but in the end, it's pretty sad....see this big fish, honey? It eats this little fish.....and no, they don't live happily ever after....only the big fish lives happily ever after....until the bigger fish come into town!