We Have Heroes All Around Us

During each catastrophe we all meet face to face with thousands of heroes. The firemen of course, the police and paramedics, the medical workforce, the volunteers, the list goes on and on. Today we are constantly reminded of our wonderful military personnel and the sacrifices they make for us and we categorize them as heroes. So when I say that the small business owners throughout this country are also my heroes, many may think that I am exaggerating, speaking in hyperbole. They do not risk their lives in highly televised catastrophes. They are not the subject of tear-jerking documentaries. They do not have cemeteries and monuments dedicated to their deeds. That all of these things happen for our firefighters and our soldiers and our police is fitting and right. We sleep soundly because they keep us safe. We need to recognize and appreciate them. But, heroes do not always swoop in with a superman cape (or uniform). In a country where 98% of all business is small businesses, each of us everyday benefits from the products and/or services that we take for granted, as a result of these people. If we think of them at all it is probably because we needed to make dinner reservations for a celebration or we needed to buy new tires or the news reported that another big-box store has supplanted more local retailers. I am not a protectionist. Wal-Mart started off small. However, we drive by hundreds of strip malls and never think of all of the families providing all of the stuff that makes our lives work. The economy of the country rests on the shoulders of these folks, therefore the economy of the whole world. Ask any of them and they would be shocked at the suggestion that they played that important of a role in all of our lives. Isn’t that the way it is with heroes? Our lives without barbers and stylists wouldn’t feel (or look) half so good. In April, life without CPAs would be a nightmare. The pediatrician, the architect, the mechanic and the restaurateur all conspire to provide us with the lifestyle we enjoy. We depend on and take for granted the services that are presented to us daily but the heroes make other contributions as well. The tax base that they provide pays for our roads, and our protections and our schools. Often times they are paying double the taxes. They are paying once for the business and once for their personal income. They provide jobs so others can pay their income taxes. Yes we all contribute but without the small business owners and those that they provide jobs for, the governmental coffers would be lighter indeed. How about all of the philanthropy? There is the grocery store that contributes to the Little League snack shack. Then you have the local sign and banner store that donates to the high school athletic teams. The local newspaper contributes ad space to the hospital fundraiser. What pizza place does not have the picture of the youth soccer team it sponsors? We have developed an amazing system. They are the very reason we enjoy the lives that we live, a huge symbiotic system that feeds and provides for itself. The small business owner is truly heroic. In just doing their jobs every day they provide comfort and safety and security for all of us. They do all of this with their Clark Kent glasses still on. No one, not even they, know that they are superheroes, but without them, our lives are much, much less.