Millions

A dear friend who owns and operates an independent bookstore/cafe/video store recently revealed to me a poorly kept secret. The secret to her success of staying in business for more than two decades: She goes out of her way to encourage her customers to tell her what they want in the way of books, videos, and foodstuff.

But recently she found out that she is losing a certain percentage of her customer base to the chain book- and video-stores, who can offer their inventory far cheaper than she can. In these concerning financial and economic times such erosion is more than just unacceptable, so my friend, Ali, informed her remaining customers that she was going to establish a suggestion box into which they could put suggestions on how she could retain her customers while gaining new customers.

Ali is a realist, as well as being a fatalist, and I suspect she knew the concept of the suggestion box might not pay off in ways and means desired.

Of course, I don't think she even began to think what the suggestion box would become: A reservoir of good faith and community support.

You see, when Ali's long-time customers learned her customer base was eroding and the possibility of her going out of business was a strong possiblity, they set to addressing the matter in their own way, using the suggestion box.

They put money in it, instead of suggestions.

Ali, not surprisingly, was surprised by this outpouring of support, this demonstration of community.

And she responded by putting all the monies donated into an interest-bearing account, which she says will be used for a rainy day.

There is a reason for why I bring up Ali and her current predictament, and it is thus: Money is a funny thing. When you don't have it, you want it. When you have it you want more. And when you have all you need you realize a certain truth about it.

Money is a funny thing. Which is why stories about money and people who suddenly have it when they didn't have it before are so appealing. The sudden presence of money, in large quantities, does funny things to people, and it is these events that go to make for good storytelling.

Consider as example "Millions", the story of Anthony Cunningham, age nine, and his brother, Damian, age seven, who suddenly come to have in their possession a bag containing 265,000 British pounds, that bounced off a train, hurled into Damian's playhouse, and now resides under their bed.

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