Pull your head out of your Ass

Small town, dependent on tourism and a short season to "make hay."  There is not a lot of opportunity long term for young people here.  Employment for the most part, is seasonal and many are forced to work multiple jobs.  Those jobs tend to be in the service industry.  Waitressing, mowing lawns and the like, which are great as a second job, seasonal job, but as far as being able to make it?  Most of the kids move away because opportunity is elsewhere.  Businesses here are in many cases for sale because the owners are aging and in many cases tired of working their asses off.  I know the feeling.  Sometimes it feels as if the town is dying in a way because the old standby folks are trying to get out and put their feet up in their golden years.

This town is a mecca for summer employment in these service type jobs and some of the jobs pay fairly well except for the fact that they are not year round.

I own the service garage that I more or less grew up in and use it as my shop for maintaining equipment and some side job general repair.  I bought it from my Dad almost 30 years ago (Christ!  Time flies) when I really could ill afford to.  I just knew I would be back sometime and so the struggle to pay the mortgage was worth it in my mind.  But I was working elsewhere and soon had good, well paying jobs that made the struggle not so much.

The grey economy (read "cash business") has made sale of some of these businesses difficult if not impossible and several sit empty.  Not because there is not opportunity, but because you have to have a history of profit in order for someone to be able to buy the business.

Enter my property and my foolish notion of community and youth.

I was approached by the daughter of a gal I went all through grade and high school with (the grade below me, and no longer with us).  A young gal with a bit of ambition.  "Would it be possible for me to use your corner on odd weekends to sell t-shirts promoting the community?"  "My friend and I have started a business and are hoping to make a go of it."

I asked her what she expected and her needs were extremely simple:  Space for an 8'x8' canopy for shade, a place to park her car and nothing else.

I told her she was welcome to set up in my yard and wished her luck.  She wanted to know what I wanted.  I told her "nothing but your success."  She was tickled and grateful.

They set up for a weekend and did great.  Most of the traffic coming here goes by my corner and she sold many T-shirts and other printed items like bags and can coozies all promoting this town.  At the end of the weekend she called and thanked me and said they had done great, could they come back for the 4th of July.  Absolutely, I told her.

About mid week, I get a telephone call from the local police officer who left me a message asking me to call him.  When I did, he asked me if I knew that the girls were using my property and I told him absolutely, with my blessing.  He told me he had been asked to investigate the "peddling" by the local town chairman (chicken shit mother fucker - but I get ahead of myself).  I told him that not only did they have my blessing but that the property was zoned commercial and we had sold all sorts of miscellaneous when we operated the building as a service garage.  I also told him that the girls were a legitimate business with a taxpayer id and sales tax license.  I figured that was that.

The girls came back and had a great 4th weekend.  They were so pleased and grateful they gave my wife and I a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant because I had refused to charge them anything for the use of my property.  They planned to come back in mid august for a couple weekends and for Labor Day weekend in September.

I am happy to see not only young people with ambition, but happy to see them succeeding and hoping for bigger things.  This town needs it.  As I mentioned, us old farts are busy, tired or dead.  If they are successful enough, maybe they might consider buying or renting one of the empty shops!

Today I get the mail and in it is a letter from the Zoning and Planning Department.  "It has come to our attention that you have begun operating a retail sales operation (T-Shirt Sales) on your commercially zoned property.  A conditional use permit is required for this sort of use of your property and since you did not apply for one prior to starting your activity, you will be required to pay double the normal fee for this permit."

"In addition, you will need to provide 2 parking spaces for every 400 square feet of the operation on your property and will need to contact the county sanitarian to determine if public restroom facilities will be required.  The county building inspector will need to be contacted to determine if the structure on your property is suitable for the sales operation and additional permits may be required to accomplish any changes required by the inspectors office."

I find it a bit disingenuous that they kept using the term "your property."  Damn fucking straight it's my property.

I called the zoning and planning office and asked for the fellow that signed the letter.  He explained that he had a complaint and when I explained what was actually going on, he laughed.  I told him his letter wasn't very damn funny.  He said that the girls do not need a permit for selling as they are so long as they do not operate for more than 10 consecutive days.

Tomorrow I will pay the town chairman a visit and ask him to pull his head out of his ass, since I am sure he is the one that contacted zoning and planning.  Stupid as fuck in a dying town.  Just what we need.

It may be a generalization, but it seems like people are frightened or maybe jealous of ambition.  Myself I encourage it.  As I mentioned, I hope these gals do so well they want to expand and buy one of those shops.  Entrepreneurship should be encouraged, not regulated to death.  I spoke with the young gals grandmother who is two doors down from the shop to let her know what happened, because I intend to berate the jackasses responsible in a very public way.  I might even apply and pay for the zoning permit myself and tell the gals to have at it.

People really have no thought for the future.  Some don't have enough sense to pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the bottom.  Our society encourages and rewards the lazy and shiftless and penalizes the ambitious...it needs to stop.

stupidity is not for the faint of heart

my typing is not real good right now.  cutting the tip of your finger off is not conducive to efficient accurate typing.  not to mention it hurts like an MF.

how did i do it you ask?  careless and stupid is my answer.

This also makes making hay, repairing equipment and general chores very difficult.

I wont even mention picking my nose.