I thought it was a good sign, but i didn't really understand it.  I had the idea, but there was a practical quality that I was missing.  I saw it as a sort of eco-activist sales tactic.  I now have a different view.  After running a small locally focused business for a year and a half I can say that my life will never be the same.  Don't worry.  I mean for the better.  I watched as this business struggled against everything that gives capitalism a bad name.  Some examples are:  selling higher quality fairly traded goods when your competition isn't; Rent imbalances brought about by market supply and demand; and the uneducated consumer mantra "cheaper is better". 

So where does my dollar come in you might be thinking?  It didn't really occur to me until after I had experienced working longer hours, taking on more responsibility, and dealing with problems more difficult than I ever had in my life.  And after all this loosing money and going into debt. Thats when I realized the value of the dollar that was in my pocket.  If I was going to spend THAT dollar it would surely be going somewhere it was needed. I'll give that dollar to the Alternative Baker in Rosendale over the Mobile Mart any day of the week when purchasing a coffee.   During times of economic stagnation many local businesses are literally just holding on by a thread.  Your dollar really does count.  And it really does create the kind of world that we live in.-MLT