I went to the tire shop today

[MineralMan]

to get a couple of new rear tires for my evil SUV. Got a good price, and the place was really busy. So, while I was waiting and having a cuppa joe in the customer waiting area, I struck up a conversation with a guy who has a small business installing hardwood floors as a subcontractor. His van was in getting four new tires.

"How's business?" I asked him, in the way strangers converse in tire shop waiting rooms.

"A heck of a lot better than last year at this time," was his answer. So, I asked why he thought that was.

His answer was that the economic crisis in the fall of 2008 made everyone fearful and unwilling to do things like remodeling their homes or finishing their basements. So I asked him what he thought made the difference. His answer was interesting.

To paraphrase, he said that he'd always voted for Republicans for President. When Obama got elected he was sure that would finish off the country. He almost went under in 2008. But, he continued, that didn't happen. Instead, there was a slow, steady increase in his business, starting in about June of 2009. Now, in December, he said it's a complete turnaround for his business, and he's way busier than he needs to be. People are doing add-ons to their homes, replacing old floors, and finishing their basements.

I asked him if he thought Obama had anything to do with that. He said that he thought the stuff Obama did early in 2009 made people feel a little more confident about where things were going.

So, I asked him about the health care bill, figuring he'd have a real problem with that. Not so. He said that the way it looked to him, he'd probably be able to finally get some insurance for his kids, one of whom has epilepsy. Right now, he said, nobody would touch that kid.

About then, my SUV was ready, so that was the end of the waiting room conversation. I found it interesting.

[monmouth]

1. What a refreshing OP. Many thanks....n/t

[MineralMan]

8. I was encouraged by the conversation. I'm not sure this

guy is ready to vote for Democrats, but he can see things improving for him, personally, so that's a positive. It was also interesting to see what his views were on HCR. It's going to affect him positively, so he's not against it.

Small steps.

[snooper2]

2. Thanks for sharing...

:hi:

[SoCalDem]

3. On a micro level, we all just do what we have to, to get along

and most people are resourceful and do manage. Some will fall by the wayside, but most people are doing their best to hang in there..

I see many marginal places closing up, but then perhaps they should have never been in business in the first place. If you have to borrow to meet payroll, maybe your business model is not all that great to start with..

Part of the problem we have now, is that we are a service economy, and exist solely to "do for each other". Most of the things "done for us" are things we COULD do, but if we have money, we prefer to have them done FOR us..
These are all layered upon each other, and when one domino falls, the rest can go too.. We can just hope that somewhere along the trip, a domino will fall a bit crooked, and not take them all down :)

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. An excellent description of the 'service economy'. nt

[MineralMan]

9. True, but the fact that his work was picking up is an

indication that people are feeling a bit more optimistic. Somewhere, someone's working in a mill, making wood flooring. Somewhere, someone's job seems more secure, so that basement is getting finished, finally, and giving some more room for the family. In that busy tire shop, there are a bunch of guys in the back installing tires and salespeople in the front selling them. Maybe they're refinishing their basements, too.

Of course, the tires are made in China or somewhere, so there's that problem. But, there appears to be a more hopeful feeling out there.

[SoCalDem]

11. My son's side-job business is still going well

he paints, installs garage doors & does custom tilework.. and yes he IS licensed & insured:)

Just last week he finished a $5k tile job on some rich guy's bathroom:)..not bad for 3 days' work:)

[MineralMan]

15. Good for him! I hope his business continues to thrive.

[4_TN_TITANS]

12. "someone's working in a mill, making wood flooring"

more and more likely, that's in China, like drywall and other construction materials. What America needs is a huge Buy American movement launched by the administration.

[MineralMan]

14. Perhaps. However, there are a number of hardwood flooring

mills here in Minnesota. We have tons of hardwood trees in the state, and people are milling lumber here. Some of it, no doubt, comes from other countries, but there is still a local industry. If I were buying hardwood flooring, I'd be looking for local sources. There's an Amish flooring company not far from here.

[onehandle]

4. Yesterday a couple of guys in my gym's locker room were talking about Obama and Senator Sanders.

This is a stones throw from Emory University and based on part of their conversation, they were somewhere in the medical industry. Doctors or suits, I'm not sure. They seemed to be ending a conversation about the health bill.

One of them said that Bernie was just a former librarian and knew nothing about running a business. The other responded that Obama was basically the same way.

They went on to talk about how we need more business people in government.

I laughed and said sarcastically, 'Yeah, like George W. Bush. That worked out well.'

That ended the conversation and I went to shower.

[countingbluecars]

5. K&R! n/t

[Andy823]

6. Yep.

I think there are more people out there that feel the same way, republicans, independents, and even democrats that didn't vote for Obama. If people don't listen to the hate mongers like Beck, Limbaugh, and Fox news, they are able to understand what is going on better than those who do listen to that garbage. My mother in law started listening to Limbaugh back in the Clinton years. She was always trying to tell me how bad the democrats were, and had all kinds of stories and conspiracies she heard from Rush. If I tried to disagree she got mad as hell saying that Rush was the only one with the truth! After a couple of strokes she got even worse with her paranoia and conspiracies. She was to bad when Bush was in office, but once Obama was elected, she went ballistic. She would sit in her chair and listen to Rush, and then be depressed all day because of what he was saying. She knew the country was going to be "destroyed", she knew Obama was a muslim and that he was not a "real" citizen of this country!

Well back in the spring I replaced her old stereo system, still had an 8 track player in it, with new receiver that I hooked up her cassette player and TV to. It had a built in tuner for the radio, and I hooked up her external antenna so she could get radio reception. It worked great and she could actually here old Rush better. For some reason she started moving the antenna around, she is getting senile so I really don't know why she was doing it, but she kept losing the signal and I had to keep hooking the wires back up. One day I noticed she wasn't listening to Rush so I asked my wife why. She said the sound was terrible her mother got tired of the static. It was the same problem, and I could have fixed it again, but I didn't. I simply waited to see if she would say anything, and she didn't. She started watching TV instead of Rush, and her whole outlook on life changed! She was no longer depressed, and she stopped with all the doom and gloom I had been hearing for so many years. It was like she was a whole different person. If only more people turned off the hate mongers things would be a whole lot better.

Things are getting better, slowly but surely. I think that by the end of 2010 the economy will be better on main street, and people will start to see things in a new light. Sure there will still be the die hard Obama haters, but even they will have a hard time trying to spew their lies and hate when the country is back on it's feet again. Even my dad, who is a republican, has admitted that some things are getting better, and he has said that he hopes it continues, and that's progress on his part!

[MineralMan]

10. Hope. It's something that we have to have.

Maybe that is the thing that will turn things around. Maybe President Obama is really offering that to some people who had lost it towards the end of 2008. That's a good thing. It's a slow business, restoring hope.

[LynneSin]

13. I think we worry too much about what others things here in DU and forget that we are just a small...

small part of the big large group of people that Obama was elected to represent. And btw, that was EVERYONE in America - not just us democrats, not republicans but everyone.

Thank you for sharing your story.

BTW, as a homeowner I've needed to replace a window and fix my floors for 2 years now but have held off for fear of not having the money. Next year I've already looked into doing at least one of those.

[MineralMan]

16. Good deal! You'll be helping someone else earn some money

with those windows and floors. Every job is important, no matter how small.