Thank you to the readers who expressed sympathy, and shared shipping stories and what you were trying to purchase that isn’t available locally, and how you got it here.
The opportunity to wage a personal campaign was one I couldn’t resist. (It made me feel better, and as you saw, got results.) You can also ask Guam’s delegate to Congress James C. Moylan to take up that cause, or our attorney general, or your island attorney general. Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson made inroads with Target when she was attorney general in Guam.
My husband has ordered specialized parts from Taiwan. I doubt that he told U.S. suppliers that wouldn’t ship to Guam that they were losing business, but clearly you can cast your net wider if you need to. There are companies that will help you too, and act as your agent.
It is frustrating. But also talk to your local retailers, who are usually really helpful. Supermarkets will sometimes oblige you, if you are willing to take a case of whatever product it is that you can’t live without that flies off the shelves.
And of course, the less you have to schlep back from vacation, the better.
I’d like to give a shoutout to Guam Community College for it’s literacy program and distribution of books to schools. GCC is distributing “more than 7,000 resiliency memoirs and literature from local authors to the Department of Youth Affairs Youth Resource Center, Guam public libraries, village youth centers, and the Guam Department of Education’s school libraries as part of the efforts to promote literacy among Guam youth.”
I had to check what a “resiliency memoir” is. It’s about overcoming adversity. That doesn’t sound very engaging, but you never know.
I began to read at 4 years old. I remember reading “Sam Pig goes to market,” and Superman comics, which my father brought home until I was old enough to hold my own library ticket. Maybe my father enjoyed the Superman comics as much as I did.
It really doesn’t matter what you read to start with.
My parents didn’t believe in censorship as I grew older, for which I am very grateful. Of course they had to deal with the questions that resulted, but such is the privilege of parenthood, with the added potential of shaping young minds.
As a grandparent, it’s been my pleasure to take my grandchildren to bookstores, letting them loose to find a book. And one time — the youngest to boot — hopefully (and successfully) shared he couldn’t decide between two books and walked away with both. He’s clearly got great potential.
Watch out for our news updates on the Journal website. Travel is typically big news from here on in as people plan for or take off on vacation.
I’ll be heading out on United’s new Haneda flight not once but twice. Firstly, with the Guam Visitors Bureau inaugural mission and later on the way to Europe. The connection is appealingly short in Haneda to England, and there are plenty of options if you are heading to the U.S. mainland. mbj
— Maureen N. Maratita is the publisher at Glimpses Media. Glimpses Media includes the Marianas Business Journal, Guam Business Magazine, The Guam Guide, Wave 105.1 FM and Power98.