The $5 philanthropist - GiveMeaning

So about a week or so ago Jessie comes home from having drinks with a friend and informed me that we're never shopping at the convenience store below our apartment ever again.

These kind of pronouncements more often come from my mouth, so I was curious as to know what kind of injustice she had witnessed that would take the convenience out of the convenience store.

Apparently, Jessie asked the owner why they don't carry organic milk, he got defensive and said something like "if you don't like it, shop somewhere else" and so she promised never to shop there again. His argument was that "no one wants organic milk." Inspired (I suspect) from the liquid courage she had just imbibed, she brought other customers into her conversation, and proceeded to ask three people standing in line whether they would buy organic milk, if they stocked it. Either out of genuine interest or social anxiety, they all said that they would buy the organic milk if it was available.

She left promising never to return until they carried organic milk. Of all the stances to take, I'm not sure why Jess seized on this (again, perhaps it was the drinks) but a couple of days later, as we walked by our convenience store, one of the owners came running after Jessie and said "ok, we have organic milk now. shop with us again!"

So now of course, we're drinking a lot of milk in the household.

This story is a bit cheesy (cheesy, get it?) but it does contain two fundamental truths about changing the world:

1) Start small. Real small.
2) When they do what you want, buy a whole lot of milk. (i.e. reward the changed behavior by increased loyalty).

Labels: activism, environment, worldchanging