Pride month is nearly here and the queers need the money you were going to spend anyway on bits and pieces
If you are going to buy pride merch, consider going to that web shop you have bookmarked that you've been meaning to shop at but never got around to it.
"Will they ship it in time?"
look into my beautiful blue gray eyes and notice the way the subtle wrinkles accent my middle age and listen to my gentle, wispy voice when I tell you
it doesn't matter when it arrives
your support of somewhere between pocket change for a sticker to the equivalent of lunch at a restaurant that you spend in an independently owned shop is the line between:
them celebrating in a tiny way
them building queer spaces in the economy
this is not a "you should spend money--"
from the title of the post
"...money you were going to spend anyway..."
Your choosing a small business and saying "hey this may not arrive in time quickly" is a significant portion of supporting that business, becuase they do not have Big Box Retail mechanics
Your choosing a small business and saying "costs a more but is still comfortably affordable" similarly so
I am a cold hearted business person whose love for money is only secondary for my love of happy, thriving people in an enriched environment that serves and protects the entire population always in every form and structure
(which is honestly the source of my love for money, because it directly leads to people happy and thriving, protected and supported)
(if i could waggle my fingers and live in Star Trek I would but I cannot)
(I tried it) (it didn't work)
so the economic incentive
to this post is quite simple:
happy, thriving people doing business is good for the world
If you want to show your support and/or identity
and planned on doing that with a bauble sticker shirt pin keychain art print whatever
the queer shop you have bookmarked in your computer is a great place to look
If you want to read about your support and/or identity
the local bookstore in the queer neighborhood of your community is a great place to go browse
and/or the library, leave us never forget that these are for some fucking bullshit reason under attack, too, okay sticking to the point lest I start coughing up blood and/or throwing bricks
If you want to see your support and/or identity
the local theater in your community that shows queer films is a great place to start
Paying a a few cents or dollars more at a store that directly aligns with the values you have in your heart for something you were going to purchase anyway -- listen to me -- is a direct action support to keeping their lights on in hard times and allowing them to grow from "survival mode" to "thriving mode" in good times
i know that it sounds simple
and it's literally this straight forward
i'm not here to guilt or request or demand justification
from anywhere about anything
this is a discussion point
me @ me
me @ you
"Big box ships faster. Do I need it faster? Big box offers free shipping, and is cheaper. Can I spare the extra few bucks?"
thems the breaks to being alive
I say this as someone who loves money (see above qualifying statment) and whom loves Doing Business (my current job is extracting cash from rich people for queer art, great gig, highly recommended)
at least 1/2 Doing Business is "I am here, right now, with the thing you're looking for, with agreeable terms."
literally that direct and forward
WHEN you can bend what you consider agreeable terms to the realities of small business -- slower shipping, a drift towards higher prices, they have to special order it rather than it be in stock etc. --
you are directly creating a change in the world towards the shifts you want to see
this is the "doing your own dishes, folding the towels everyone uses in the house laundry" version of buying things btw
"okay again I can't because--"
there is no permission slip needed to sign
there is not a list I'm going to check your reasons against
there is not a reason to have a reason
this is exclusively meant to seed the thought of "when I can, I will"
it doesn't sound like much
this s AT LEAST 1/2 of changing the world
