By Haley Lamb
An Artful Life

We all live. We all work. We stand in line behind or in front of people at the bank or our favorite local lunch spot to pay our checks. We see the same people walking down the street in our daily workplace bumble and jumble. But do we ever stop to say or do anything other than a nod of the head and a weak, mindless “hello”?

      Let’s change that shall we? Let’s give The Regular Joe the opportunity to meet other Regular Joes. Welcome to Meet the Neighbors.
      This is a very simple concept. Walk outside of your office. Look to the left, then to the right, and now repeat. Who do you not know yet? Walk across the street and ask for ten minutes with the entrepreneur behind the desk. Find out who they are and what they do. Then write it down and send it to Joe. We all want to know who’s in our community and the best place to start is right next door.
      Now, before we break out singing Kumbiya let’s get down to brass tacks. This is a business venture. You are building your network and getting a free plug in print for you and your fellow Joe. Sounds simple enough, now go Meet the Neighbors.
      Downtown St. Joseph has been my office home for just over 6 months. My name is Haley Lamb and I work at The Artful Life. Many of you are repeat customers but I am sure some of you are saying, “The What?” We sell a little bit of everything that is out of the norm, at least for St. Joe. Our main focus is modern art, furniture and accessories. But we also have amazing gifts, gadgets and gourmet foods. Stop in and meet us.

      Now, that you have met me, let’s head out and meet one of my neighbors.

      Bill Field, proprietor of The Duffle Bag, is located in beautiful downtown St. Joseph, Missouri at 727 Francis Street. He knows the hardships of being a business owner in downtown. Field said, “Sure, I could take my business somewhere on the Belt and get more customer volume, but the rates wouldn’t be as reasonable as they are down here.” He has been in business at this location since 2001; one day he says he may move to another location but not because of wanting to leave the downtown area, “It’s just a simple matter of space.”

      
       The Duffel Bag, a military surplus store open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm, has curious objects in a mish-mash giving one the feeling of being in a relative’s cluttered house. He told me a story about an Iraqi flag hanging on the wall above the checkout counter, “Pre-Desert Storm the flag had just 3 stars. Post-Desert Storm it has the 3 stars with the words ‘God is Great’ written between each one.” Field goes on about the significance of the flag, “There’s a little spot of blood in the corner.” The flag is a war trophy; one of many that people bring back from wars and sell to him perhaps from bad memories or to acquire a quick drink to drown those memories in. When asked about the blood on the corner Bill said, “The blood was from the Iraqi soldier who was carrying the flag and was killed in the process.” He also told me that this same soldier used to collect the dog tags of all his kills.
     
      “It’s about making a connection. My merchandise is at a rate that I would pay myself.” He wants his customers to feel like they got their money’s worth. He markets to hunters, paintballers, civil servants and outdoor types.
     
       When asked him if he gets a lot of business his reply is quick and certain. “It’s adequate. There is always a re-education process when it comes to military surplus.” He enjoys very much the conversations he has with World War II and Korean War Veterans, hearing their stories.
     
      Bill is a friendly enough fellow, as I looked around the store he gave me something he sells. He called it an MRE, a meal-ready-to-eat, and told me to try it. “It’s Pumpkin Bread.” And I will try it for the sake of trying something new; just like I took the time to meet my neighbor.
     
      And by the way, the Pumpkin Bread was great.