There is nothing worse than the cynicism of a small-town mindset. So many great opportunities are missed by people who are unwilling to take a chance. The town I grew up in is like this and, after moving away for nearly a decade and seeing what the real world is like, I find it excruciatingly difficult to go back for a weekend visit.
The mayor is spot-on when he says “It is not every day that you have a company that comes in and says: ‘We want to donate half a million to your community. We want to hire your locals. We want to work with your bars and restaurants,’ ”
I'm not going to make uniformed guesses about numbers or throw around insulting names. And if it was me then maybe I'd cynically take the money and grit my teeth at the poor-quality mass-produced beer on advertisement for a few days. But there's still something to admire about saying "no" to all that.
There's more to the welfare of a community than its monetary value. This is event is absurdly demoralizing ("Whatever, USA"?), and I personally couldn't be paid enough money to get over the lasting effects.
The mayor is spot-on when he says “It is not every day that you have a company that comes in and says: ‘We want to donate half a million to your community. We want to hire your locals. We want to work with your bars and restaurants,’ ”