The Funnyman
Metal sign advertising is a lifelong investment.
Anytime a holiday rolls around, I always think of my family. It doesn't matter if it's the 4th of July, Christmas or the upcoming Memorial Day, I habitually give thought to the people I love during these fun seasons of the year. My family is very spread out across the entire country. I have family members located in every region of the USA. From aunts and uncles in Georgia, Colorado, Vermont and North Carolina to first cousins in California, Minnesota, Florida and Texas, my relatives never cease to keep my options open for new places to visit. In fact, since I have so many relatives living in different locations, I just about never get to see each relative in the same room at the same time. My grandparents, however, are really good about scheduling events every two years or so and pressuring each family member into making the trek down to their home in North Carolina. I like to attend these reunions, as I love to talk with everyone and find out all the new gossip.
My dad is a funny guy.
Family reunions in North Carolina are always so much fun. Usually my grandmother prepares a fantastic meal, my Uncle Bill brings a great bottle of wine for everyone to enjoy and my grandfather, once he has finished eating, tells stories about my dad and his brothers and sisters. This storytime lasts most of the night, as everyone likes to chime in with his or her own account of what happened. I love this part of the visit because I always get to hear about something funny that my father did with his brothers when they were young. The best story about my father concerns the time he was supposed wear a tuxedo and drive the limousine to pick up his Aunt Sally from the church on her wedding day. The way my uncle recalls the story is that Aunt Sally and her new hubby John were exiting the church to get in the car having been married for all of ten minutes, and instead of the driver (my dad) wearing the nice white tuxedo that Aunt Sally had picked out, he was instead wearing a full body reptile costume complete with a tail and snout. Needless to say, my Aunt Sally was not amused. However, according to my uncle, the rest of the people at the wedding, though somewhat confused, could hardly contain their laughter. My dad is now a doctor and all of his years practicing medicine have humbled him, so I always let out a little chuckle everytime I think of him being such a trickster.
My grandmother likes telling the same story over and over again.
My grandmother is a sweet, sweet lady. She is a marvelous cook and always makes sure to take care of everyone else before she takes care of herself. She also loves to tell stories about the day that I was born. I have heard this story so many times now that I feel like I can give a first person account of every detail about the day I was born. She typically begins the story by describing the weather. It was a steamer of a Tuesday and the sky looked like it was going to open up at any second throughout the day, though it never rained. My grandmother's reason for always telling the story is that my birthday is the same as that of my cousin Martha. My parents were at Martha's eleventh birthday party when my mother said it was time to go to the hospital. Martha was really excited to get a new cousin for her birthday that year. In fact, Martha still lights up every time she hears my grandmother tell the story about our shared birthday.
My custom metal sign helped me share my passion for reading.
I've been in business for myself for almost ten years. I own a bookstore in Manhatten and I love hanging out with and talking to my customers about books. When I first opened my store, I had no idea how I should spread the word in order to build a customer base with whom I could share my passion, time owning a business}. I talked to my friend Jim and he recommended that I create my own metal sign. He told me that when he was in business for himself he always advertised with custom metal signs because they afforded him the freedom to say what he wanted. I took his advice and designed a sandwich board style metal business sign to display by the street in front of my shop. This metal sign was my first attempt at advertising my store, and I still use the metal sign today, ten years later.
Family reunions make me think of my custom metal sign.
I would imagine the reason I told you about my family reunions is because I compare my grandmother's ability to recount the day I was born with my ability to recount the day I first started using metal signage to promote my business. It was a Tuesday in April and the weather was beautiful. I had Pad Thai for dinner that night because there was a Thai eating place located next door to where I bought my custom metal sign. I could keep going with my description of the day, but I'll spare you the details that probably only I find interesting. My custom metal sign has been with me through all of the trials and tribulations of owning my own business, and I'm happy to say that the sign is still with me today.
