Come on, people!  Why, oh why, must lawyers be summoned anytime something doesn't go precisely how you intended?

I don't know who the first lawyer was, but whoever he was would surely be turning in his grave at what lawyers will do nowadays.  Focus has shifted away from making things right, to making things MY WAY RIGHT NOW (said in the whining voice of an 8-year old)!

Reference an article in today's Charlotte Observer, in regard to a Lowe's that was voted down in my hometown of Harrisburg NC. 

Harrisburg has been struggling with growth and how to handle it.  Our town is a little bigger than 5000 residents-so we're not huge-but we sit just immediately outside of Charlotte, so we're truly a bedroom community for the big city.  And the majority of us who live here are JUST FINE with that.  So of course, seeing as we only have two Lowe's Home Improvement stores within a 5 mile radius and only three Wal-Marts with the same 5 miles, we MUST have them in our town limits.

It's been a long battle and it continues needlessly.  We fought Lowe's and did NOT approve their request for rezoning.  So what does Lowe's do? They file a lawsuit to FORCE the zoning change to build where they are NOT wanted.

Since when is this acceptable?  Harrisburg's charm stems in part from the fact that we have a lot of small, local businesses that are profitable and supported by folks in town. What happens to them when Lowe's forces their way into town?  What happens to our infrastructure? 

You know, I wasn't even truly opposed to Lowe's and I'm not opposed to Target.  I'm opposed to Wal-Mart and Home Depot, but that's another topic for another day.  The problems that I have?

A.  When Lowe's comes to town, Wal-Mart will follow shortly (our mayor and his cronies LOOOOOVE Wal-Mart and refuse to listen to the town that we do not want Wal-Mart here for many reasons).

B.  Lowe's can't accept that they can't go anywhere they want.  Their business model is set up to hear the word NO from anyone.

So there goes good money after bad-our small town is forced to fork over money for -you guessed it-lawyers to play this game. 

Ick.  I really will have to run for mayor...