ASHLAND — Last week, I got dressed and headed downtown to pick up something I had ordered.
If you had seen me, you would have noticed the deep red Uniontown sweatshirt that I was wearing. I chose that deliberately. I was walking downtown, and I wanted to make sure I was representing a downtown business, so that if people did pay attention as they went by, they may think about our downtown and shops, and hey, maybe even buy dinner for 30 from Uniontown? Maybe.
Branding is for real, friends. Our mantra from day one of Ashland Main Street has been to support our downtown in whatever way we can, and now, more than ever, we have been yelling it from the rooftops.
I wanted to have a physical manifestation of a downtown business to show my support, and it was a little chilly, so the Uniontown sweatshirt it was.
We have been talking about shopping our downtown stores and liking them and supporting them on social media, but wearing them is great, too.
Now that I’ve set the stage, let me tell you why I was going downtown.
I was walking down to pick up a shirt from Clothes Minded. Ali had opened up her shops for curbside pick up orders, and I was coming in to pick up the shirt I had jumped at buying when she had it available — the “Kindness Counts” shirt.
I wanted to have that shirt not only to support a local business, but because the sentiment seems so very important right now.
Friends, if you have been having ‘wine with DeWine,’ you know that this corona-adventure we are on together is not ending any time soon, which is a massive bummer.
While on the one hand many of us are relishing the slower pace and being together with our most immediate families, I have noticed a very disturbing trend of people who are cooped up, or are over it, or who don’t have their normal outlets available to them, so they are lashing out, and very often, doing so at our retail workers.
Seriously folks? I get it. There are a lot of things I would rather be doing right now, but being rude or judgmental isn’t going to fix this pandemic.
Our downtown store owners are people first and foremost with families and businesses that they are trying to juggle, in a way more challenging way than ever before.
If you follow their pages, you will see them share stories and pictures of their kids and spouses, as well as their feelings and emotions. They are real live folks, just like you and me.
Beating up on them because you can’t get something you want doesn’t make life better.
Ali drove from her home to the Mansfield store, then Ashland, then Wooster, then home, with her daughter in tow, because it was her birthday, and she wanted to be with her mom, giving out packages like most beautiful Santa Claus out there, so we can all feel a little bit more pretty. That is an amazing gift, not an excuse to harass.
Yes, proper social distancing was exhibited. Rein it in, Karen!
If I had seen the “Kindness Counts” t-shirt a month ago, I would have dismissed it, because of course kindness counts and who wouldn’t abide by that? Now, a month into stay-at-home, I am happy to support a downtown business, and remind everyone who sees me in that shirt that we need each other, that we are all one big family, that we are the ‘Headquarters of Nice People,’ and that if we can’t all follow the Golden Rule during this time, when can we?
Friends, I hope that you are all well and safe at home, and, if you are able, that you can support your friends and neighbors and family who are trying to keep their small businesses running while the whole world is shut down.
Please be kind to one another, and take care of each other; we can get through this, but only if we do so together.
