By making intentional choices about our household errands, we help local businesses during this tough time, and supporting markets and other shops run by immigrant communities means you’re saying you want these businesses to stay.
Tsh’s free weekly email, 5 Quick Things
This is The Good List — I’m Tsh Oxenreider.
As I’m talking to you, Kyle is at the store buying groceries. He went to the Eastern European market about half an hour’s drive from our house because there’s a particular flour from there I want to try. He’s sending me photos of other things he wants to try, like some Rye bread, as well as tiny $120 jars of caviar we’re gonna pass on. About once a week, we’ve also been going to the Mexican market about 5 minutes from our house — here we get produce like strawberries, bananas, and carrots, tortilla chips and salsa, eggs, and a few other staples when we’re low. And about a month ago, Kyle ran to an Asian market that was on his way home from work because they’ve got a huge variety of inexpensive rice, and he picked up a few staples there as well.
Each of these stores usually had plenty of what we needed at the time, the quality was great, and everything was super clean and well-organized. Shopping at these small markets often means more variety at good prices, less-crowded aisles, and supporting immigrant communities in your town, and thereby further voting with your dollars for diversity. What instigated Kyle going to the Asian market in the first place was hearing a less-than-savory comment made about the checker from the guy in front of him at our main grocery store (okay, it was flat-out racist). It so shocked him he didn’t know what to say in the moment, but afterward, it inspired him to support the nearby Asian market with the rest of our grocery funds for that trip. Making intentional choices about our ordinary household errands is one small way we can help local businesses stay in business during this tough time. And supporting markets and other shops run by first-generation immigrant communities means you’re saying you want these businesses to stay.
I’ve loved everything we’ve gotten from these small shops, and we’ll continue after the quarantine rules are loosened. Look up local markets in your area, and see if you can buy a few of your staples from there on your next grocery run. It’ll help these businesses, and it’ll help your family bring more of the world into your home.
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Hi Tsh, my name is Cindy. I live in Nebraska where we are enjoying spring and the remains of winter, sometimes in the same 24 hour period. Like yesterday it was close to 70, we wore sandals and today we are prepping for little snow, icy mix, and wearing our coats again. So with that said, we never know when outdoor time is going to be enjoyable or available. An indoor activity I enjoy with our four kids, who happen to range from 10 to 21, we take four new flyswatters never been used and a balloon and we just play a little badminton game. My youngest calls it balloon pong. With incredibly lightweight flyswatters and a dainty balloon, you can have a lot of fun and it is really hard to break anything except our boredom. And laughter is golden. That to me is the perfect mid-day brain-cation.
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A little reminder that if you haven’t yet, to sign up for my free weekly email called 5 Quick Things, where I share 5 things I either created or loved from the week. Go to fivequickthings.email to sign up, and you’ll get the next weekly email that goes out on Friday mornings.
I’m on twitter @tsh and sometimes on IG @tshoxenreider, and you can also find a transcript and the show notes of this episode, and all episodes, at thegoodlistshow.com.
And don’t forget to leave me a voicemail or send me a voice recording, telling me one thing you’re doing to stay sane during your quarantine and social distancing. Leave me a voicemail at (401) 684-GOOD, which goes directly to voicemail; or, simply record your voice and email the voice file to hi@tshoxenreider.com. Just state your name and where you’re from, and what’s one thing helping you get through this right now. And we may feature it here on the show.
Thanks to Cindy for sharing with us what’s on her Good List. Music for the show is by Kevin MacLeod, and thanks, as always, to Caroline TeSelle and Kyle Oxenreider for their help, as well as my furry intern, Ginny. I’m Tsh Oxenreider, and I’ll be back with you in just a few days — thanks for listening to The Good List.
Buy From Immigrant Markets