Whether you are fully financially invested in the Food Co–op, currently well on your way with quarterly payments, or simply a casual convenience shopper, chances are you’ve been asked at the register: “Are you a member–owner of the Food Co-op?”
No matter the answer, it’s *always* okay, because anyone and everyone is welcome to shop at the Food Co-op.
I’ve contemplated, this seemingly innocent question, and upon my reflection I have come to some conclusions.
The common replies I hear from nonmember–owners range from the straightforward “No, I’m not” to the guilt–tinged “No…but I should be” to the indecisive optimist “Not yet…I’m thinking about it”.
Still, I’ve noticed Member–Owners respond with positive affirmation: “Yes, I am.”
I may as well be asking: Are you a supporter a locally engaged business? Who possess global principles that emphasize independent, voluntary, democratic participation? And are you a concerned, educated, trained, and well-informed community leader?
I could very well be asking: Are you a citizen of this earth, who is on some subtle level, aware that each one of us play an important role and possess a higher responsibility to a healthy mind and health conscious society?
I would like to be asking: Are you doing your personal best each day and night to become the person you know exists in your heart and at your very core?
As marvelous human beings, not merely human doings, we must respond to the wake–up calls of negativity with persistent positivity. Even if and especially when that response involves a repetitive question: Are you a Member–Owner of the Food Co-op?
Yes, I am!
Jordan is a Food Co–op Chronicle staff writer who sometimes simply offers hearty slices of New York–style sass, including this fine–print follow–up to the asterisks above: *forgot your wallet? fuhgeddabowdit!*
