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I used to want to open a bookstore in Asheville but my dad said it was a bad idea.
He told me the numbers would never work and I should get a steady job instead. For a decade I worked in an office, always feeling like I gave up on something big. Last week I walked past the exact spot I wanted to rent, now it's a vape shop. Has anyone else seen the physical place of their old dream and just felt a weird kind of sad?
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skyler_jackson271mo ago
Markets are good at showing what makes money fast, not what makes a place worth living in. A vape shop filling a spot says more about rent prices than community needs. Your dad's math missed the value of a space where people actually want to be. That steady job cost you a real chance to build something, and seeing the vape shop just makes that loss concrete. It's not about avoiding a mess, it's about missing the point of what a business can be.
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miller.rowan6d ago
My uncle always talked about opening a diner on his old block, but his brother talked him out of it. Years later, we drove by and it was a payday loan place. He just got quiet and said the street lost its flavor that day. It's not just a business plan, it's about what kind of place you help make. Seeing the wrong thing in that spot hurts because it proves the dream was possible for someone, just not for you.
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Honestly, what makes you so sure the bookstore would have worked out? I mean, your dad had a point about the numbers. A vape shop being there now just shows what the market actually wants in that spot. Maybe you dodged a lot of stress and losing money. That steady job probably saved you from a huge mess.
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emmahayes1mo ago
Shake my head reading this, the_harper. A vape shop showing what the market wants? That just shows what pays the highest rent fastest, not what a neighborhood needs. My dad's numbers ignored the community that would have supported a real gathering place. You're right that it would have been stressful, but calling it a dodged mess feels like calling every dream too risky to try. That steady job cost me a real shot at something I cared about.
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