The Handshake Contract

There is a sense of security in the familiarity in the scene outside my window.  Nestled between two barber shops and across the street from the Golden Arches, lies my Spa. 

On my street, there are a series of business that have been here long before I have and a few new ones. Of course, the new ones are mostly corporate-run, but they replicate the Americana feel of our town. Is it haughty to say that our Taco Bell is better than any other?  I don't think so. 

The reason is that in our town, the word transaction takes on a different meaning.  Generally, if someone were to get a massage at a spa, they pay for it and leave without any commitment of coming back. This is what I've known as a transaction in all my years.  However, at the end of a transaction in Bucks County, there is a neighborly sense of helping each other achieve a certain goal.  Trasactions do not exist here.  What we call a transaction is more like an unwritten contract. If my taco stinks, I will certainly go to the manager and tell them. Yet, I will return to see if the taco has improved, because I want my town to have the perfect taco.  If the service was not up to par at our Spa, I am in tremendous debt to the client who tells me and returns to see if I have improved.

I am blessed to see recurring names on our gift certificate ledger, and I am even more humbled by the trust that is put into me by the gift certificate buyer. They believe I will treat their loved one in a way that will make them look good. 

We don't buy goods and services in Northampton; we buy handshakes.