Bulls, Boys, and Blessings — small town
Self Checkout
Julia Jacobsen customer service customers Rural Revival self checkout shop small small small town
I grab the items I need and see the only available check out is self-checkout. I despise self-checkout. We run a few small businesses and even if a wish granting fairy gave me free self-checkout kiosks with all the money, space and training to operate them I would kindly say “no thank you”. In a world where many of us are burning the wicks until they meet in the middle, I desperately need those moments in a checkout line to just breath. It gives me a tiny space where decisions are not being made. It can literally be where I let my shoulders down, roll my neck and take a deep breath.
Is this what momentum feels like?
Julia Jacobsen Harrington Locals revival rural small changes small town
This little farming community that I’m from is experiencing momentum in a wave that we haven’t had in quite some time. The 80’s were rough on rural areas. As a kid growing up here I had no clue about the business’s that closed their doors or the impact that would have on my community in the decades ahead. I have memories of getting out of school and heading down to the drugstore to buy candy. That big heavy door with the large bell on the front that would let the shop owner know he had a customer.
Waving the Month of May, part two.
Julia Jacobsen kindness rural small changes small town wave
Did my attempt to wave at everyone I see in my small town move mountains? Nope, I noticed no mountains moved. Did it change something inside for me? Yes, I think it did and it goes back directly to the notion that you notice what you focus on. I do in fact think people are waving more. Does it have anything to do with me? It is rather unlikely but if it did that’s cool too.
Waving the Month of May.
Julia Jacobsen friendly Harrington small town wave
When I arrive the room feels somber. I’m not sure what I walked in on but I can tell it feels heavy. The discussion is about our only bank in town “temporarily closing” due to staffing issues at a nearby branch. There was little to no notice or communication so when people stopped by the bank they were greeted with a locked door and a sign describing the “temporary” closure. In my head as I write this I’m using air quotes over the word “temporary”. It reeks of writing on the wall. That it won’t be temporary at all.