About three years ago, my aunt and uncle and my parents (hereon referred to as “my bosses”) started a clothing store together. They called it Harmony.
My cousin commented on how Harmony being a clothing store is actually a facade. Its real purpose and function, according to her, is that of a Social Club for the Elderly.
As funny and outlandish as that sounds, it has been true.
My grandma walks from her house to our store for lunch every day. She has her routine here: eat lunch, drink her cafe con leche (milk coffee) with some little biscuit, and watch (and sing-along) old Korean singers on YouTube as she guards the On Sale clothing rack.
There is also this elderly Korean lady who started coming to our store as a customer. Soon enough, my bosses befriended her because she wasn’t going to church and because she seemed a bit lonely. Since then, she has come over for barbecues at my uncle’s house and now comes to the store every so often to update us on her life (forget about coming here to buy clothes).
And starting this year, we have had another Korean elderly lady come at least twice a week to hang out with my grandma at the store. A conversation I often end up having with this lady goes something like this:
EL: Show me a picture of your boyfriend.
Me: I have no boyfriend.
EL: SHOW ME A PICTURE OF YOUR BOYFRIEND, I SAID.
Me: I HAVE NO BOYFRIEND.
EL: *looks at me like I am keeping the truth from her*
Me: *look at her like I wish I was hiding the truth from her*
(I solemnly testify that we have had this same conversation for months now.)
Anyways, beyond being a social club for the elderly, Harmony is also what we like to call a restaurant. This store used to be a house, so there is a full kitchen in the back. And our family is well-known for loving to eat much and well. This means my mom and aunt take turns cooking delicious food. This also means that we have fed random hungry friends and relatives throughout the years. We laugh lots as we realize that the discussions held at Harmony hold the topic of food and clothes to be of equal importance. (Trust me, this is not an exaggeration. As I type this, my aunt and uncle are making kimchi in the back.) We have regular street vendors who come to sell us garlic, all sorts of fruits, Korean tempura, the list goes on.
For about three years, I have been praying Hebrews 13:5-6 (The Message) over Harmony: God, help us to keep our lives free from the love of money and to be content with what we have, because You have said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Yes, Harmony is a clothing store. But is selling clothes its main goal and obsession? Nope. It definitely is not. Am I proud of that? In a sense, yes. As I see my bosses being content with what they have today, showing love in various small ways, I cannot help but be thankful to be a part of Harmony.
Harmony: social club, cost-free top-notch restaurant, and clothing store. Come by any time 🙂
*Just in case this blog may give the impression that my bosses are not the hardworking people they are, here is a short description of their work: Harmony opens at about 7am Monday to Saturday and closes at 5pm-ish, except for Saturdays (we close at 1:30pm-ish); mom is like the intellectual brain that takes care of finances and marketing and is the part-time cook, aunt is the creative director who takes care of the clothing production and part-time cook, uncle is the Faithful Opener of the Store and the one who cuts up all the fabric, dad is the jack-of-all-trades as well as the Hulk who can do detailed as well as heavy-lifting jobs. I have come to fill the role no one wants to do: sell the actual clothing and make sure the clothing they make are in the clothing racks.*
A closer look into Eli's special thoughts 