People make retail worth the ride

YESTERDAY WAS WACKY Wednesday at Second String Music. You can't make it up, the characters who wander in and out of here. And that's just Angus and Fast Eddie.

Sheryl is still subbing at Quincy Junior High School, so it's me and the pets in here until about 3 p.m., with Steve Rees working a couple of days a week too. I like all the different people who come in, as long as we don't talk too much about politics, why we don't have high end Fender or Gibson guitars (they won't work with us little guy music stores), and they don't point out the Detroit Red Wings are missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 25 years.

Fret not! It's getting fixed by Don Rust, thank goodness.

In the space of half an hour this morning, retired court reporter babe of doom June Otte stopped by for a visit, we got a long-awaited resonator guitar delivered, a man bought a banjo for his grandson's birthday, and legendary luthier Don Rust dropped in to search for a pickup. Now he has my prized Strat so he can fix the frets. (Note: Don just fixed my Takamine acoustic frets and it's never played better. He is incredible). And I think I've talked a woman out of buying a $30 used guitar online. "It says it's in great shape and it has three strings still on it!" she said. We talked. She is now much better educated and thinking about upping her game.

And I just talked to a Quincy man about getting his 1956 Strat appraised. He told me some great stories, like the time Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top offered him $2,000 for the guitar. "Glad I kept it," he said. I agree!

I like helping people and working with them. It was no different at The Whig. We come in different shapes and sizes, have different values and beliefs, walk straight or turn left. Doesn't matter. The older I get the more I realize how short a time we have on this earth, and we might as well use it wisely.

Even if the Wings aren't in the playoffs.