THE BBQ SAUCE CODE

I just ordered BBQ sauce for ManFriendJeff for Xmas. (Thank God he doesn’t read this! And don’t tell him!) “Never mess with a man’s relationship to his BBQ sauce” is my genderist, yet fairly spot-on belief. It has served me so far. It just preserves a spiritual harmony, I guess? Haha! I shan't give away my BBQ sauce source but it’s a tiny company who needs no advertising as they do really well… but it is, in a way, the topic of this post: I MISS UNIQUE, INDEPENDENT COMPANIES AND MAKERS! 

Yes, there’s ETSY (who’ve become very greedy and have begun gouging their vendors) and other places to find individuals who make cool stuff online, but what about locally? I miss all the restaurants, small grocers, pharmacies, hardware stores and non-chain places to check out something you can’t find anywhere else. Or are at least curated by one or a few individuals who stock interesting, useful, quality things made by other smaller vendors and makers. They still exist, but it seems I can count all the places on one hand. For example, I was just in a family-owned hardware store in San Francisco that carries gorgeous Japanese carpentry tools. I sure hope it’s not a vape shop when I go back. 

I don’t love the capitalist spirit of the December holidays, they just magnify this feeling for me. It creeps me out that my tiny toddler family members have such ferocious brand recall. And no, I don’t have any deep insights or observations about this feeling, I just miss a tiny or large adventure that big-box stores and chains don’t have. If you find or have little gems like the hardware store in Japantown, San Francisco, support them as hard as you can.