Wow! Mr. Abahams’ letter (“No need to apologize for opinion,” June 21) is laced with such venom against the business community that one wonders what could have caused such a vitriolic response. Could it be that he was taken advantage of by an unscrupulous kid at a lemonade stand or perhaps he was overcharged when he purchased his last Star Wars collectible action figure. Or maybe he worked for one of those monolithic faceless corporations and feels unjustly mistreated.
Regardless, his juvenile and angry response to what was nothing more than the factual reality of small business today, is very telling. Mr. Abrahams seems to think that big corporations and small businesses are one and the same and all should be tarred with the same brush. Those of us who own small businesses in town work very hard to ensure that our employees are treated well and do everything possible to pay above the minimum wage. And, in those lean months which come around every year, it is not the staff who go unpaid, it is the business owner. We do so because it benefits our employees and the community as a whole.
He did correctly point out that I did not provide a solution “to improve the local business scene” so that fewer people are working for minimum wage. Well, I can provide one solution. The next time Mr. Abrahams is presented with a bill from a local business, instead of insisting that the bill is too high and wanting to pay less, he should happily pay the bill. In this way, small business owners can continue to pay their employees better wages and provide a consistently high level of customer service which benefits everyone. Paying less while expecting business to pay more just doesn’t add up. Mr. Abahams, you can’t have it both ways.
Paul Osak
Nelson