Good article.
I understand the plight of the small business owner. A family member owns a store and we get "appointed" to all kinds of tasks. I am also the primary custom framer and we get lots of those quizzers. mostly its like "ok you want a triple mat for your 20x24 picture with that 3 inch wide frame. ok the estimate for that is ... $250." they go "my god your ripping me off" and then go to michael's and pay 3x as much for a ****ty job. i mean 1/4 inch overcuts is obscene.
Worst one so far has threatened to "expose" us for such high prices. the sad thing was she already made the order, agreed to price, allowed us to finish it, and then complained over the final price even though it was $10 less than estimate. She wanted her picture de-mounted and returned to her. Threatened to involve the cops. she eventually relented and paid threating to smear our name.
as for my habits, I am sometimes guilty of not buying. I enjoy just looking most of the times, future ideas, etc just enjoying what I can't afford or keep properly (LFS had a $300 fish with some wierd name i can spell or pronounce. it was hypnotic. colors rippling saying buy meee buy mee...). When im bored I just go out to the local walmart's junk isle and try to think of macgyver type uses for things there. (like can i use this plastic grating in some sort of aquarium filter,etc) This unfortunately fits the MO of a shoplifter also. I have been stalked by the "walmart greeter" at times but i wouldn't steal unless i had already been convicted of the crime (in todays america very possible, ie RIAA,etc).
Sometimes it takes me forever to make a decision. I try not to consume the time of employees, but somehow i feel my continued presence is somehow in the way since most of the time i don't buy something. I usually hang around the big stores because of this try to purchase from small stores.
well enough ranting and appologizing. good post. May it open the eyes of a thousand devil customers, ease your work, and prolong your happiness into the next plane of existance.