Stay Gold
Our new window display for Spring debuts a golden bike. For those that have been following us awhile will remember that golden bike traveling from blue arrow boutique to Sclavi's once a week a couple of Summers past. After that, the bike was permanently parked on display at Sclavi's.
The gold bike has a great story. It belonged to our youngest, and only male employee, Rocco Sclavi. We hired Rocco after he approached us for a Summer job. He was a pre-teen with a resume in hand and explained his past work experience. How could we say no?! Rocco's job that Summer was to ride the golden bike from blue arrow boutique to Sclavi's once a week and hand out coupons. Rocco did an excellent job representing blue arrow boutique.
Being your own boss, owning and working in your business comes with some learning curves and new experiences you couldn't dream. There is no way I could have ever imagined hiring a young man to ride a gold bike to hand out coupons. The whole experience from his interview to handing him his payment each week to watching him ride back and forth, really struck a cord with me. You can't steer yourself away from reminiscing what it was like to be a pre-teen, too young for this & too old for that. And, a bike being your vehicle for independence.
When we were younger, Aimee & I would ride our bikes towards each others houses and head the rest of the way together. But, one special day, Aimee got her parents to drop her, her sister, and their bikes off at our house nine miles away. Aimee & I, and our little sisters, had an adventure that marked our own golden story of innocence and the feeling of freedom in our pre-teens. We rode the nine miles together just one time. It will be a memory I'll treasure forever. So, when Rocco and his golden bike rode into blue arrow boutique, it stirred a lot of fond memories of being that age, what life still has ahead of him, what life had ahead of me from that age, and how far Aimee and I have come riding this journey of owning a business together.
We acquired the golden bike from Sclavi's shortly after they closed. I felt sad to lose a neighbor we had partnered with since the beginning. We did coupon exchanges, held a craft night there, and hired their son. Personally, I had numerous milestones at that restaurant, including a pre-wedding dinner with close friends and family. When Anthony asked if I wanted the bike, I was honored to be able to hold onto it and keep it's memory alive. Once you recognize how fleeting and precious certain moments are (good neighbors, interesting employees like Rocco, and my own epic bike ride), you appreciate them even more. AND, that some really really good things ride into your life when you're least expecting them.
To Rocco and the Sclavi family, I say “Stay Gold”.
-AP
“Stay gold” is a reference to the Robert Frost poem that Ponyboy (from the movie, The Outsiders) recites to Johnny when the two hide out in the Windrixville Church. One line in the poem reads, “Nothing gold can stay,” meaning that all good things must come to an end. ... Here, Johnny urges Ponyboy to remain gold, or innocent. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/outsiders/quotes/
