waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Another factor I find with shops is the "long term" one. Because its inevitable that there will not be that many shops fairly close to me, I make a point to repeatedly re-visit all shops within reach, even if I thought they were undesirable on a previous visit. I try to think about all the tough things that could happen running an LFS, since I'm already aware how complicated it is trying to run my own tanks.
What I've found is that retail shops fall out somewhat like restaurants. I once went through a (foolish) period of my life when I pretty much ate out 3 meals a day 7 days a week. I found that some restaurants were very consistent and others were very inconsistent. So if I had gone to one of the inconsistent ones, I would have had a random chance of gettng a good or bad impression on that one visit. I later visit might have reversed that.
Same with fish in the LFS. I've found that (and sometimes it feels quite surprising!) the same row of tanks that had poor choices may have some tanks full of outstanding specimens the next time I visit the store! It just happens. Also the owners and workers change moods and sometimes who works there even changes.
So just like fishless cycling, patience pays off and also I find that being quieter and more polite has more of a pay-off factor for me over a longer term relationship than I believe sounding off too harshly would, so I'm often a fairly anonymous customer in the LFS.
~~waterdrop~~
What I've found is that retail shops fall out somewhat like restaurants. I once went through a (foolish) period of my life when I pretty much ate out 3 meals a day 7 days a week. I found that some restaurants were very consistent and others were very inconsistent. So if I had gone to one of the inconsistent ones, I would have had a random chance of gettng a good or bad impression on that one visit. I later visit might have reversed that.
Same with fish in the LFS. I've found that (and sometimes it feels quite surprising!) the same row of tanks that had poor choices may have some tanks full of outstanding specimens the next time I visit the store! It just happens. Also the owners and workers change moods and sometimes who works there even changes.
So just like fishless cycling, patience pays off and also I find that being quieter and more polite has more of a pay-off factor for me over a longer term relationship than I believe sounding off too harshly would, so I'm often a fairly anonymous customer in the LFS.
~~waterdrop~~
