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MBMCINCY63's avatar

I live in Cincinnati, and work at Meijer. It's not the size of Kroger, Walmart, Target... it's not huge,but it's not insignificant either.

I think I can wait 24 hours for bananas and wine.

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Howard Cheetham's avatar

Copied from another post

You are not alone

There are more of us than there are MAGA

The US Constitution still exists

State governments still exist

NATO still exists and only the US Senate has the power to make the USA withdraw from it

Ukraine still stands strong

Russia is still a fascist gas station teetering on economic collapse

DO NOT SURRENDER IN ADVANCE

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Bonni Funk's avatar

Thank you for this and your grace.

Thankfully, Portland is the perfect place to find tons of small businesses. Of course, the corporate chains are there, too, but they're a smaller percentage than in other major metro areas.

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Denise Conroy's avatar

Portland is incredible in so many ways!

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Susan Bland's avatar

Yes, I got off Facebook 3 weeks ago and shut down my Amazon account completely this week. Moved to Duck, Duck Go. Just downloaded Signal but haven’t tried it yet. Love the way you are putting this out to people, do what you can do. Great message, thank you.

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Janie Starr's avatar

I really appreciate your perspective, very helpful. I would respectfully disagree that 'google' is my friend. I'm working toward boycotting google - they no longer support DEI, they think the Gulf of Mexico is the Gulf of America (!), and they are a huge powerhouse corporate giant. I recently switched to Duck Duck GO as my search engine and it works just fine. Now if I can just get all the activist groups I work with to find alternatives to google docs! How about we make Quack Quack our friend :) I live in a small rural community in the PNW - without corporate chains, NO starbucks, lots of local coffee shops. I feel very privileged!

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Denise Conroy's avatar

Yep...Google sucks. I'm untethering myself from their platforms too. I switched to Firefox a few weeks ago. So far so good. Now i just have to untether completely from docs and sheets. I use Microsoft as little as possible too. Their products are crap (always have been), plus they are the IDF's #1 vendor.

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Janie Starr's avatar

I have been using Firefox for years and never used chrome. Dumb luck on my part. Would love to know what you find as a good alternative to docs.

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Barbara's avatar

Love your straight to the point, options-based advice!!

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Denise Conroy's avatar

Thank you! No need to make this harder than it is. Life is hard enough!

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Howard Cheetham's avatar

Food Lion (DelHaise) are also OK

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Linda Lawson's avatar

We are promoting mindfulness in spending. Stop, think. Quit impulse buying. Be selective when choosing who will receive your dollars. Your dollars represent your life energy.

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Emily Drum's avatar

These companies have made commerce so convenient for many shoppers with online shopping, grocery pickup, and fast shipping. Now shopping elsewhere is much more taxing. It’s important that we recognize that this connivence comes at a MAJOR cost to ourselves in the form of suppressed wages, unfair working conditions, and monopolies ruining small business diversity in our local communities.

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Denise Conroy's avatar

Exactly! And those of us with more privilege need to bite the bullet and sacrifice convenience for better in soooo many areas.

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Kathy H's avatar

You're right, companies corner a market by initially offering value, but it doesn't take long for exploitative practices to cancel that out. I'm to the point that it isn't convenient any longer to deal with the hassles & be angry when I spend money. I used to spend more time shopping, but it was a lot more rewarding...as it should be. We're not hostages to companies that don't hold up their end, providing fair value & responsible stewardship.

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jtolbertjr's avatar

Your emphasis on starting small is critical. It’s important that people start small, build confidence and commitment to not buy unnecessary shit from the elites. That way, they will be prepared to weather the multiple economic crises these psychopaths have created. Not being distracted by stuff is key to our mission.

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Denise Conroy's avatar

YES!

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Kathy H's avatar

Helpful!

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C. Ginge's avatar

Mom and Pop Spots—everything is always better than corporate crap.

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C. Ginge's avatar

Mom and Pop Spot.s-everything is always better than corporate crap.

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Stephanie Casella's avatar

Yes!!!!!

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Susan Douglas's avatar

100%!! Avoiding, today and as long as possible. I refuse to support Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, et al. Period. Small stores and small businesses all the way. 🙏

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Punching Up vs. Kicking Down's avatar

And "perfection is a illusion" has been my mantra and battle cry for the last 20 years! Thank you Denise for all you do!!

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Denise Conroy's avatar

Thank you!

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