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A small courtyard of shops we discovered |
Sunday was supposed to be our day of relaxation. We wanted to do nothing except lounge around
the cabin playing pool, reading, or sitting in the hot tub with a drink. It didn’t really happen that way.
We had spent quite a lot of time Saturday at Downtown
Gatlinburg doing the tourist thing.
However, only the kids made purchases and the girls wanted to return for
their souvenirs that would forever remind them of the great time they had. The one million pictures we took were not
enough. There was a need for shirts,
coffee mugs and shot glasses. The shot
glasses purchase has actually become a tradition. I collect them as do a couple of friends of
ours, so every time we ever go anywhere, we bring back shot glasses for
all. We are all nice that way.
We decided to go back out and spend “only two hours”
browsing the shops. I should have known
better. The day before we spent as a
group. This trip, however, was going to
just be the four of us and the 8 year-old.
With the smaller group, it was assumed we would be able to better
control the aimless wandering and sightseeing that was bound to happen,
focusing mainly on gaining our purchases and returning home. We assumed wrong.
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The Donut Friar |
The problem wasn’t that the kids were the slowpokes. It is actually the four of us. It didn’t help that we discovered new
courtyards of stores that we had missed the day before on our excursion. We stumbled upon the Old Smokey Candy Kitchen
and the Donut Friar that Louise Bales of the Art House had highly recommended
as well as Thomas Kincaide gallery that we could not pass up.
We also discovered some stores that we came across as rude
and obnoxious, like Buckboard too! This
was a small store selling nostalgic paraphernalia of Hollywood. There were posters of Marilyn Monroe,
statues of the Wizard of Oz cast and lunchboxes with comic book
characters. The part that seemed sad to
me was the sign on the front door. “American
Owned.” Now I’m all for support your
country and I’ll buy small business before big business if I can. However, his sign was kind of funny
considering most of the merchandise inside was made in China.
Once I stepped inside, I wanted to yank the sign off the
door. If you’re going to announce that
you are - American, Canadian, Christian, Muslim, etc. - make sure that your behavior isn’t an
insult to that particular group. If you’re
going to put a Christian bumper sticker on your car, than make sure your
driving is not twenty miles above the speed limit and control your road
rage. This American, though proud of his
citizenship, gave the impression of a paranoid bully and we have enough of
those in Congress.
That sign was only the first of many. On the front window was a sign ordering
“Small children must be held or in a stroller.”
Obviously, he hadn’t been around families long because in my experience,
it’s usually the parents that should be forced into a stroller. Other signs told you to keep your hands off
the merchandise and one tacked up over a set of Wizard of Oz masks threatened
that if you tried on the mask “you will buy it”. I was tempted to try it just to prove him
that his sign had no power, but I was worried about who had worn the mask
before.
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The four of us & the 8-year old |
Those were his bully tactics, which really didn’t give you
that warm and cozy shopper experience.
The paranoid part was, to me, a little overboard. God bless his American heart, he had a tiny
security device wrapped around every piece of merchandise in his store. I would have taken a picture, but that
violated one of his other signs. No
photography. It didn’t matter how big or
small the item was; it was wrapped with a small, round, gray device that would
trip the alarm. He had to have spent a
small army’s fortune purchasing those things and I wondered just how often in
his life he had been ripped off. Some of
the stuff he was protecting cost pennies compared to his little radar warning
system it was tagged with for his protection; it truly was a sad sight to
behold.
The world has become a wide and diverse place. This has been
made quite real to me as I continue to write and network with other authors the
world over. Visitors from all over the
globe stop by the Mess and I have supporters and friends in many
countries. This would not have been
possible several years ago. Thanks to
the internet my Mess is worldwide and I can sell and purchase books from
anywhere. I don’t want an offensive
barrier between my words and those who may read them. Neither should the owner of Buckboard
Too! (The exclamation mark is his
signage, not mine, by the way.)
I’m all for patriotism and being proud of your country. However, it’s not a selling point when the
proprietor is an unwelcoming ass. There
are some who I wish would keep their citizenry to themselves. They just make the rest of us look bad.
* * * * *
Did you enjoy what you read? Leave me a comment and then join me at The Mess that Is Me on Facebook!
For Further Reading ~ Ronnied
Thanks for visiting The Mess!
We seem to have a few friends in common, and I frequently read your FB posts. Today was my first stop in here. I will be back frequently. Always up for a good read and fresh perspective!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting :) I look forward to seeing your comments and thoughts.
DeleteThis was my favorite part of your trip...we (the people of the world) may not always agree, but it is those differing opinions that offer new perspectives and fun blog posts!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Christina :) I'm glad we don't all agree or behave the same. It would be a very boring world if we did. Thanks for visiting!
DeleteA**holes are like too much pepper on food...doesn't necessarily ruin the meal but it does make you cautious next time. Looks like a great place to take the family. Thanks for sharing Robbie.
ReplyDeleteTaylor
It was a great place and a fun time! I highly recommend it. Thanks for visiting, Taylor!
Delete