Shahab on more soap

["Shahab Mesbah" <moscadmin@moscow.com>]

My dearest Friends,

 

I appreciate all the kind words you have directed to me. many of you have become friends through my business and will remain as such for ever. The intention of my letter was not to blame anyone for the closing of my store. I am more successful and better off for it! I still am able to offer services that no one else can and am doing better now than when I had the store. What I intend you to understand is that your purchasing decision drives the economy. If you choose mediocrity... mediocrity you shall have.

 

I wish most of the people who commented directly to me had done so publicly so the rest of the list could have seen the comments. there were many insightful comments and I will incorporate some of them in this response to some of the public posts.

 

I am sorry that our world is driven by advertisement and promotion instead of work well done and reputation. Quite frankly if I have to lie and advertise a bunch of half truths and lies to entice people to buy from me... I would rather starve to death. all I have is my integrity and I will never jeopardize it for anything.

 

Most people know about us and we have contributed to the education and well being of this town more than most. We have always had demo models running in the store and we have always helped people understand the technology. The fact is that as long as we expect to be bombarded by advertisement gimmicks and lies that is exactly what we get.

 

The right way to do business is to serve the community. The community has to be mature enough though to appreciate what they are getting.

 

As for the comments of regular hours and our business not being open... that is simply not true. until two years ago we were open 7 days a week. I decided to close on the weekends since no one came.

 

Those of you who are supporting the other local businesses... I salute you. I have expertise that allow me to make much more money elsewhere... they do not have as many options; I hope you keep them going.

 

As for services offered... we are the only complete service center in the quad cities. we have more certifications than all other providers in the region combined. In fact we service all computer devices including monitors, laptops, printers, etc.

 

As for the computers... we have never had anyone match our price/performance/reliability.

 

These are really not the main point of the whole discussion though, are they? The fact is, as many of you put it, that Moscow used to be a lot more personal place before the big national chains started to attack the local business. you think I am alone in this but you are wrong. I just have the guts to say it to your face. those of you who know me know that I do not BS around; I do not mince words or hide the truth or act nice to your face and then stab you in the back; you always know where you stand. I am honest to a fault maybe! I do not see it as a fault. If you can not see the truth in what is happening to our town, state, and the whole country... then either I am crazy or it is not time for some of you to see the truth.

 

Many of you named many local businesses in your e-mails but none of you pondered the hell the owners go through to stay in business. If we do not start acting responsibly we will not have any local businesses left. We will have to go to grocery chains for our food, to Wal-Mart and staples and office depot, Costco, and soon Home depot for everything. Just like the inferior produce in the supermarkets today and the truly junky computers in the discount stores and the sorry excuse for clothes in Wal-Mart we will have to settle for less with everything else.

 

Then we sit there and moan about the lack of service, choice, etc. our society is slipping into mediocrity and it seems like no one is noticing. We have been lulled into complacency. This whole problem has taken over the politics as well. Our country was once a great country. We were proud and our workmanship showed this. Today we are a society that is concerned with the self only. We have degraded into an abyss of apathy and complacency unprecedented in the history of man. It all goes full circle... we can not expect to be selfish and have a great society. Apathy, greed, selfishness all lead to social decay.

 

Again I will leave you with the statement I made before: if we see problems with our society... we must look within and make sure we are part of the solution. If not... we will be the problem. truth... sometimes hurts but what you learn from it makes you stronger.

 

Your brother in arms,

 

Shahab...