Signs of the Times

If Crystals Balls really gave us a glimpse into our future reality I would have never dreamed my circle of life would be running a tool retail store. But here I am Monday through Saturday standing at the counter of We Buy and Sell Tools. 

After a decade of running a successful masonry business, for a lot of us in the construction industry, finding jobs became few and far between. So to keep food on the table I decided to sell my tools and equipment. I started to realize very quickly that I was not the only one who was selling the tools of their trade.

So long story short, that is how We Buy and Sell Tools was born. The name of the store gives a good description of what we do.

To be honest, when I opened the store I thought of it just as a way to make a salary. But I will have to tell you it has been much more than that.

At times I feel like a bartender listening to stories of people down on their luck and coming to sell whatever they can to put gas in their car or food on the table.

We all know the economy is bad but when you listen to the unemployed face-to-face it becomes much more personal than a percentage number. There are so many very experienced tradesmen willing to do just about any work to keep afloat.

We all watch the political back and forth of how we will "fix" the problem but that answer seems to be somewhere in the future instead of today when we need it the most.

At the end of the day I always think there has to be some way as a community we could interface our community unemployed with those home owners or employers looking for a tradesman. 

So far my answer has just been to try and buy and resell tools at a cheaper price but I feel as though there must be something more I can do!

Any ideas are welcome....