I don't get angry very often, but every now and then someone says something that sets me off. For those of you who don't know, I run an online clothing store on eBay. For the past decade I've been finding deals at thrift stores and selling them online for profit. Well, as I loaded up on shoes at the Bellingham Goodwill, a lady came over to me and asked if I planned to resell those shoes. I politely told her I was going to resell them and she responded: "You shouldn't profit off the generosity of others."
When you work behind a computer most of the day, you tend to welcome conversation from strangers. It often is the only thing that gets me to think about stuff differently. And this lady's comment definitely got me thinking. At first it was: "The nerve of some people, why don't you mind your own business!!!" Then I channeled my father and thought, well, "Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one". It wasn't necessarily her comment that got me riled up, it was the tone in which she delivered it. As if to look at me and say "Tsk Tsk, shame on you!!!" If she only knew the time, money and energy it takes to turn a profit online these days. Ultimately, I let the comment slide without a reply and walked away from the shoe section in search of more deals. But I couldn't help replaying her statement in my mind and wondering if I really was morally at fault for profiting off the generosity of others.
It was something I'd never really thought about in all the time I've eBayed. I mean, when I think about the amount of money I've spent at Goodwill in the last decade, I'm sure they'd welcome my business. They money I spend at Goodwill helps train people to get back in the workforce and I'm sure my community is a better place as a result of my monetary contribution to Goodwill and other stores I frequent. Maybe this lady was just mad because I got to the shoes before she did. Then again, maybe she was just in a nasty mood and wanted me to think twice about snagging up all the good deals. As I thought about it more, I realized that if I was there profiting off the generosity of others, then so was she and we were actually both at fault. "Tsk Tsk lady!!!"
When it comes down to it, it's not like I'm begging on the street corner for money. I'm working a system that provides me and many others with jobs. I'm stimulating the economy, recycling goods, paying my taxes and living the American dream of self employment. Sure, sometimes I feel a little like I'm begging when I try to promote my businesses. But, in the end, I provide services and encourage people to take advantage of my services. Whether they choose to check it out or not is up to them.
So if I'm morally at fault for doing what I'm doing, I guess I'll have to meet my maker one day and make my argument. I just hope that when I die and the pearly gates open and I'm in line ready to plead my case to the Almighty; please don't let this lady be standing behind me in line. Test me once and I can walk away politely and bite my tongue, but if this lady is there to put her two cents in again, she might not like the verbal assault I'll have to unleash on her. Oh Lord have mercy...:)
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