Letter to Eddie and Monica Ortiz

Eddie and Monica Ortiz own the Grocery Outlet in Rancho Cordova, CA located at 2801 Zinfandel Drive, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.

Dear Eddie and Monica:

I am a regular customer of the Rancho Cordova Grocery Outlet and admire all the good things you do for the local community. I read a while back that your store has an advanced electrical monitoring system arranged with SMUD to help lower your power consumption and reduce your carbon footprint. Considering your commitment to the environment, I find it puzzling that you do not provide a bicycle rack near the entrance to the store to customers like myself who get around town by bike.Your attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated and would further demonstrate your commitment to protecting the environment.

Sincerely,
David Brotman

Porcupine Fable

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other.
After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.
Moral of the story: The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person’s good qualities. In other words, learn to love the little pricks in your life.

Speak Up and You Shall Be Heard

I am a frequent customer at the Bel-Air Market in the Gold River Town Centre. There is an eating area in front of the market with tables and chairs. Almost every time I walk by, at least one person is smoking. I have gotten into the habit of hyperventilating on approach and then holding my breath until I get to the entrance near the ATM machines. For some reason, today I thought about whether there might be an alternative to hyperventilating. Suddenly an idea popped into my head! The Starbucks at the far end of the shopping center recently remodeled their store and along with the remodel was new signage outside that prohibited smoking within 20 feet of the store which effectively ended all the outdoor smokestacks that regularly visit for a coffee. Why not suggest the same for Bel Air? The possibility that they might accept this argument by precedence made sense and I had reason to be optimistic. The Town Centre shopping center is an older strip mall built in the 1980’s when the word pedestrian was still considered a foreign term. Like others built at the time, the parking lot and driveways were designed exclusively to accommodate the automobile. There is even a driveway that circles the perimeter of the mall that people use as a sort of mini-freeway. The main driveway that passes in front of the stores is narrow and there were no speed bumps installed to slow traffic down. People exiting the store had to look carefully to make sure no car was speeding through. My own close call took place about 2 years ago when I was crossing from the Jamba Juice side back over to Bel Air. A driver nearly clipped me as I was crossing the road. I yelled at him to stop and he looked up from whatever he was doing and did stop but then tried to defend his actions with some sheepish denial. That incident prompted me to suggest to the manager at Bel Air to install speed bumps. The manager at the time commiserated with me, noting that she was very aware of the problem and promised to work with the mall owner to see if something could be done. Well, sure enough, last year, new speed bumps were installed. So perhaps they did take me seriously.Anyways, that was a little bit of a tangent. Back to the main story. I decided to speak up once again. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Were they going to argue that they didn’t have jurisdiction over the outside area or have to consult with corporate headquarters? Nope, as soon as I mentioned it to the manager, he said he would get signs installed right away. I don’t know how long this will take, but I go over there pretty frequently.Moral of the story. If you think something needs attention, better to speak up. If you just assume someone else will speak up for you, you might be waiting a long time. In this case, Bel Air has been there over 10 years.