There is a saying, know as Murphy's Law, which states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Ironically it is also the name of the town which I have lived for my entire life. Its a small back of the woods town mostly filled with people who would be stereotyped as your traditional good ol' boy red necks. And for anyone that's lives here or even visited, you've probably heard this saying. I myself have use it quite a bit when ever I'm talking to people at the local cafe or book store and a bit of bad news is brought up in our conversations. However this is the first time I can really say I'm a victim of Murphy's Law.
I would say my life growing up in this town was different from most other kids, because I started my own business when I was 10 though it wasn't the next walmart, I owned my own stand at a Farmers Market that had just been created in our town. Growing up I never had an allowance, anything I wanted I had to work for, any money I made was a reward of my work. The first year our farmers market started, I didn't have much inventory I sold cut Herbs (Basil, Parsley, Dill) as well as ornamental squashes. I would make around $40-$50 a week, not enough that I could live on my own, but a good bit of money considering my age. At the time the market was held at a the old decommissioned railroad stop, we had no canapes or anything, sitting out in the hot sun all day.
By the end of the first year, I had started to get the hang of things, but I was still fairly one track minded because of my age. At the start of the 2nd year my inventory was still just as small however I was lucky to get a spott along the row of trees which provided shade, which was a nice change from sitting in the bright sun all day. I also started to sell cut flowers which I grew. But again I was making good money for my age, but not a gold mine... But by the 3rd year I started to broaden my horizons, by sell baked goods which I'd make the day before. It started with Pumpkin Bread, which we'd make from our pumpkins that we grew in the fall and spring. This was when I started switching over from growing to baking, because the truth of the matter, is I always hated gardening, still do and probably always will.
By the forth year, I was both a young teenager, and quite skilled as a business man, having learned first hand the skills to operate a successful business. Knowing the laws of supply and demand, quality vs quantity, watching the markets for raising prices in flower, sugar as well as anything else I used to make my baked goods with, or even shortages which would benefit my business. I started to build my name as a baker in town. One of my best customers was the mayors wife, who would almost without fail show up every week to buy my chocolate dipped straw berries. I had even been invited to cook for the mayor at one point. All of my food was of the highest quality, and because of the attention I payed to detail (at one point I was hand panting with a needle pictures on to the strawberries after first dipping them in white chocolate then using dark chocolate to draw what ever design I wished to draw.) We had also changed location to the public square in downtown Murphy.
Things stayed like this, I started to make more and more of a name for myself, making everything from High Quality French Dessert Custards, to my pumpkin bread which started it all and a few years later artisan breads from around the world, I had loyal customers, and over the years the market slowly grew and grew. Both the market and the down town were interlocked in a symbiotic relationship, the cafe and book store profited greatly from us and we profited from the. I had even by the 6th year put the local bakery out of buisness because my standards for quality were so much better then the bakeries when it came to breads and other baked goods.
It is now going on our 9th year at the farmers market. We have a total of 23 regular vendors with a few less consistent vendors that show up randomly, the rules for are market are simple, to sell something the vender selling it must have made it or grown it, your not allowed to resell stuff you got from somewhere else. I make about $20/hour (4.5 hours avg.) working one day a week at this market (not counting the 20+ hours I spend preping for the market, baking all my stuff etc.). This is my only source of income as this is a back of the woods town with nothing going for it. However as of a few days ago the city council, has without even a proper explanation or even a good explanation at all has kick the market out of the town square. This will be our last week in the down town square, though we going to be moving back to the old Railroad Depo. My business will most likely take a large blow, as well as the countless other venders.
The reason for us being kick out was because, there was unproven evidence that we had destroyed the landscaping in the town square, and that there were "parking issues". The unproved evidence of us destroying the landscaping, comes from the guy who does landscape for the town, when he found one of the plants in the town square pulled up and it "Took him and his wife till 3 am to fix it" well I'm sorry but if it takes you till 3am to fix one damn plant then you deserve to be pushed off a bridge or something. The other thing is for some reason there are two businesses that for some reason have never liked us, first being a shoe store the other being a drug store, and they have on multiple accounts complaint that we cause parking issues, either it be customers or from vendors. Which is simply not true, because all vendors are required to park in the bank parking lot (which is closed on Saturdays) and customers, well they can park where ever the heck they want, because most of them go to the coffee shop afterwards. Its ridicules, and when our Market manager/founder tried to find out who was complaining, the city council wouldn't give him a straight answer and said "Well theirs just to many people complaining" So there is corruption involved or something... I don't know if this breaks the rules for ranting about politics but it is also my livelihood so I wish, to make it know, and rant about it, because I have spent literally every Friday night working till sometimes 3:00AM or later for the past 5 or so years, so I can have some money and hopefully move out next year.
Murphy's Law... Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, especially in Murphy North Carolina...
To be honest I'm going to be protesting this, so I would also like to ask for advice on ways to do so, the things I personally would like to flood the city councils fax machines with solid black pages to waste all there, ink though that wouldn't solve very much be we are going to be raising awareness at the market this weekend being that it will be the last time in the square, talking to the local businesses to get them to help us out as well
I'm just extremely annoyed atm tbh...
Topic: Murphy's Law [Both a Rant and looking for Advice] (Read 397 times)