I believe this is why I was so angry and people and their anti Hydro Street views. Sandye and Aaron were good people. But very very poor. They completely loved Columbus and tried to do good and raise a family here. People seemed to think they were here to scam Columbus when they were just trying to do good (although in an inept way), make a living to get out of poverty. They were horrible at running a brew pub but they did not stop trying. They took a risk and lost, we all lost on that one but at least they tried. That is more then most people do.
Perhaps that is my blind spot, poverty. I have empathy for the poor, hell, they even have a hard time voting now! My buddy Elwood got a $15 raise in food stamps last month. That literally makes a difference for him. I spend twice that much golfing in league each week.
(where the heck did all THAT come from)
++++++++++++++++
There was a VERY emotional baseball game last night that had the lead off batter for the Miami Marlins hit a home run and break down in tears rounding 2nd base.
There was a football game last night that I literally know nothing about the game except the Saints lost.
But there was also a debate. I'm not getting into the debate but here are my immediate thoughts.
I'm a risk taker. I believe if you do not take calculated risks you do not grow. But I feel people need to weigh the possible upside of a Trump Presidency with the possible downside. I personally feel the downside risk is so much greater this time around. The doomsday clock (a real thing . . sort of) is at 2 minutes to midnight so the world is on the edge. In 2015 it ticked down 2 minutes**. Do we really want to toss the dice HOPING Trump will make things better? Is this the moment in American history to really gamble?
I want change also but the things that come out of Trumps mouth scare the hell out of me.
I believe the two party's are hearing what America is saying with its hatred towards both candidates and I further believe that after this election there will be a reboot in BOTH parties. The DNC has heard the Bernie people and the GOP is horrified at their candidate.
I don't want to risk America at this moment in time and I look forward to see who runs in 4 years when both party's reboot.
People seem to think that with Clinton nothing will change. Might be true, might not, we do not know. But the upside and the downside are a much MUCH narrower realm of possibility. With Trump there might be change and he might bring the people together, or he might not, we don't know but the upside is so much smaller then the tremendous downside.
I'm a gambler and this is not the time to gamble. If you want to gamble, wait for better odds.
**Concerns amid continued lack of global political action to address global climate change, the modernization of nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia, and the problem of nuclear waste.
A good friend of mine just came back from Prague and London and he had a wonderful post.
Out of curiosity about European's opinion of our presidential race, while on vacation in Prague and London from Sep 16 - 25, I talked to cab drivers, waiters, store clerks, ticket sellers, etc ..
Normally Europeans don't follow American politics, but they are watching THIS race closely.
Hardly any mention was made of Hillary Clinton. ALL of the talk is about Donald Trump.
The reaction was universal; European's just do NOT understand how so many Americans can support such a HORRIBLE, HATE-FILLED person.
While in Prague I had the news on and the anchor said they were going to air a clip of a Trump press conference. It was Trump saying that President Obama WAS born in the US, and that it was CLINTON who had started the Birther Movement and HE was ending it! I'm sitting there thinking "WTF !". But then the clip ended and it was back to the anchor who said "The statement Trump just made about Clinton starting the Birther Movement is SIMPLY FALSE". Then they aired Trump saying that "since Clinton wanted to abolish the 2nd Amendment and take away people's guns, maybe all of her armed security guards should have their weapons taken away and we should see what happened to her". Immediately it went back to the anchor who said "the statement Trump just made about Hillary Clinton wanting to abolish the 2nd Amendment and take away people's right to own guns is JUST NOT CORRECT".
I LOVE European news. They take seriously that their mission is to bring people the news (truth, NOT lies and made up stories). They fact check and call bullshit.
Another segment came on shortly afterward where a journalist said that Trump had finally crossed a line. He has said things in the past with the sole purpose of putting the image in people's minds of violence being done to Clinton, but now it seemed like he was actually encouraging someone to "do something".
Europe has it right. This is one horrible, hate-filled person.
---Mark Mills
Rod -- while Aaron and Sandye did try to run a successful business, they simply couldn't generate enough revenue to make the debt payments. Simply put, they were over-leveraged. Part of being a responsible business owner is figuring out how to navigate those cash-flow issues. Neither of them approached the City to rework the terms of the loan, but clearly they knew it was being discussed. While I agree with your sentiments about giving folks a hand when they need it, one has to understand when they need help. At the time, I was already considering options such as amortizing the loan for 10 years instead of 5, which could have effectively cut their loan payments in half. However -- the burden of getting that accomplished is on the proprietor. They chose to simply ignore the problem and stop making payments.
ReplyDeleteThe City never called the loan -- you know that. Nobody other than the Adams were "at fault" for the failure of the business. I know there are a lot of people who refer to themselves as "orphans" of The Hydro Street Brewing Company -- grieving what was once a wonderful meeting place. There seems to be no regret or self-reflection among these folks, however, regarding the nature in which the owners left -- leaving the City of Columbus holding the bag for their failed experiment. Make no mistake, every citizen in this city paid a little bit for Aaron and Sandye to pursue their dream, and what they received in return was a slap in the face.
That's why people were upset, Rod. It wasn't just wild-eyed disdain for the poor, or a personal vendetta against Aaron and Sandye. It's about character and living up to an agreement. It's about living up to your word.
The way those two left really told me that their word meant nothing.
Actually they did come to the city to have the loan reworked, it would not have saved their business but only prolonged it for another 6 months though.
ReplyDeleteI actually blame the city for their over leverage. Let's be clear - NOBODY currently in office was around when that sweet loan deal was given (which was ludicrous and I am proud that the current and semi-past council members have things under control).
We blamed the banks didn't we for giving out loans they NEW were bad. We didn't blame the people who took the sweet too good to turn down offers and then walked away. What is the difference.
OH - they were horrible at running a business (it would have been SO FREAKING easy to fix but stubbornness got in the way) and they would have gone belly up for sure. The blame SHOULD go both ways. The former government gave them a deal they could not turn down. ANd really the hatred started before they left town, not after.
I KNEW that would rile you up my friend :-)
The past is the past - that has been on my mind for a year and I had to get it out. You can disagree and that is fine, now that I said it I'm good to move on.
Well -- "Sandye runs this town. If you want ANYTHING done in Columbus, you have to go through Sandye Adams."
ReplyDeleteShe told me that one day towards the end. Not too hard to figure out why feelings about them changed before they left.