The other day I needed a printer cartridge and some labels.
I let my fingers do the walking - so to speak - and found Grinyer Business Equipment Ltd. in the yellow pages online. That’s right, the Yellow Pages. No flashy website but that’s probably because Grinyer has been in 100 Mile House for more than 40 years.
Being a newcomer to town, I was excited to find this gem. There are so many cool stores in 100 Mile House with just the thing you need - and Grinyer made sure to check that I was paying less than Staples, which to me is service at its best.
This and other stores, as well as restaurants - old and new - are part of the fabric of this community. But lately, it seems as if there’s an underlying push by some to rip our community into tatters. If we believe local small business is the backbone of our community - and I do - we should be supporting it, not punishing it. Yet there are those who seem to want to inflict pain on small businesses for something that isn’t their fault.
Businesses didn’t come up with COVID-19. They didn’t declare the mask mandate. Gyms and restaurants that are now required to ask for vaccine passports didn’t devise the idea to ask for a card at the door.
Yet just the other day, someone assaulted a store owner over wearing a mask. They then slapped down cash and walked out with a pair of boots - adding insult to injury by not even paying the right amount. In another case, the Great Wok has been receiving text messages from customers saying they won’t eat there unless the restaurant changes its policies around the vaccine passport mandate.
That isn’t fair. These businesses are between a rock and a hard place - if they don’t follow the law, they could be fined or shut down. If they do, they risk losing customers. They’re being unfairly targeted by a group of people for a decision that was not made in 100 Mile House but in Victoria.
This divisiveness is getting out of hand. Canada is a country of laws and none of us get to choose which ones we follow without penalty. Those who equate the current restrictions with totalitarianism would do well to follow their own advice and do some research.
And if they really want to effect change, it would behoove them to put their own names on the ballot when the next elections roll around.