I own a small bakery. Business has been slow. Rent is up. I was thinking about closing.
Last Friday, a teenager came in. He looked nervous. He counted out change for a cookie. He was short 50 cents.
"It's okay," I said. "Take it."
He ate it at a table, looking at his math homework. He looked stuck.
I used to be a math tutor.
I walked over. "Quadratic equations?"
He nodded. "I don't get it."
I sat down and helped him for 20 minutes. He got it. He left smiling.
The next day, he came back with two friends. They bought cookies.
The day after that, five kids came.
Apparently, he told the school, "The lady at the bakery helps with homework."
Now, my bakery is the after-school hang-out spot. It's loud. It's messy. There are backpacks everywhere.
Yesterday, I found a note in the tip jar. It was wrapped around a $20 bill.
"Thanks for helping my son pass math. A Mom."
I'm not closing the bakery.
I think I finally found my purpose.
It's not cookies. It's community.
Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:
“It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.
“There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.
“If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice!
“Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity.”