Tom’s Big Picture

2. With the crummy weather and red tide situation (the little one was very attracted to the dead fish), we spent the first morning at a nice little outdoor mall. Outdoor malls seem to be the new pattern, as they deprive the riff-raff who usually frequent malls of any air-conditioned common areas to waste time and annoy others. This is very pleasant for those of us with families who wish to get our business done and go home. In any case, my girls did the Build-a-Bear Workshop. This is an incredible business, and a lesson for me that confirms what I’ve already learned in business: never underestimate what people will pay for something, and in this case especially what yuppies will pay for an “experience” for their children. They vacuum-cleaned my wallet for $66 for two made-in-China stuffed animals. But their little faces were so happy…and of course from a daddy’s perspective that’s worth it: once or twice, on vacation.