Leaving Independence
by Leanne W. Smith is a story of one woman’s bravery and determination to
better herself in the aftermath of the Civil War. Abigail Baldwyn is faced with
a tough choice. The carpetbaggers are after her house and she learns that her
husband is still alive and serving the Army in the West. Wondering why her
husband never came home after the war, she decides to leave her home and join
her husband with their four children. She arrives in Independence, Missouri,
the starting point of the Oregon Trail, and begins to make preparations for the
long journey. There she meets Hoke Matthews, a quiet and mysterious man who
joins the wagon train as a team leader. On the trail, she and the wagon train
meet with disease, tragedy and danger. Then danger strikes Abigail and Hoke
must track her movements to rescue her from someone who plans to do her harm.
Will he reach her in time? Will she discover the truth about her husband’s
absence? Will they make it to the end of their journey?
I thoroughly enjoyed Leaving
Independence! It reminds me of another book with a similar theme; however,
this book had its own drama, twists and turns. Even though certain events were
obviously going to happen, I still gasped and cheered when they did. It was a
great story for the brave men and women who risked the unknown to venture to a
new home and life in the American West. I highly recommend Leaving Independence.
I hate your commercials. The “Don’t be like this me”
commercials featuring Rob Lowe, Peyton Manning, and Eli Manning were annoying.
However, I understand you were marketing to the single male demographic. So
they weren’t designed to peak my attention as a married female. The “Hannah and
her horse” commercials were just weird; but, I get it. They were not designed
for me. However, the commercials featuring the Settlers family has crossed a
line. They are irritating and trivialize a group of people who risked it all
for a dream.
First, you have no idea what being a settler would be like.
Most of us today probably wouldn’t survive on the frontier as our ancestors
did. Many pioneers faced toil and extreme hardships for the opportunity for a
better life than what they left behind. They carved out homes in the wilderness
of the American West. Traveling light, with only the barest essentials, they
crossed the Great Plains. Building homes out of sod when no trees were
available. Game and other animals provided fuel, food and clothes. Food was
scare and only as the land yielded. Illness was frequent and often fatal. Battling
the extreme weather in order to have something that was their own. The tornadoes
in the spring and early summer. Or the heavy snow in the Rocky Mountains. You
were at the mercy of the land, the weather and God. There were no sick days,
disability pay, nothing! If you didn’t work, you didn’t eat. Everything you had
was a precious commodity that wasn’t to be squandered or wasted. Pioneers even
included doctors, blacksmiths, ministers, shop owners who were leave their
established trades in the bigger towns and cities in order to build something
better out West.
Pioneers left everything they knew. They left family and
friends, maybe to never see again. The trip was long, difficult and dangerous.
The trail was rocky with raging rivers, like the Platte, North Platte, and
Snake and Columbia Rivers. All their belongings were packed in a covered wagon
pulled by oxen. If the wagon were to break or the oxen die or be injured, you
were often stuck or forced to go back. There was also the threat of Native
American attacks made the journey fatal. The most famous pioneer trail was the
Oregon Trail. Many of us who were in school during the 80s and 90s remembering
the computer game. The trail started in Independence, Missouri, through the
plains ending in present-day Oregon City, Oregon. Other famous trails include
the Mormon Trail from Illinois to Utah and the Bozeman Trail to Montana. To
poke fun at a life that was hard and carried no guarantees of success or
survival is wrong. This country might not be here as we know it, if it weren’t
for the brave men and women who forged ahead despite the risks and their fears.
Second, since when is “settling” a bad thing. Since when is
making a choice settling. To settle is to resolve or reach an agreement. We
have cable and while it hasn’t always been roses, we are overall satisfied.
There are no customer-company relationship that is completely 100% satisfied.
There are always moments where a customer will be frustrated with their service
but overall, if they were truly dissatisfied they would take their business
elsewhere. Before you pipe in and say that I haven’t tried your services
before, I have. My husband and I had DIRECTV before and for a while it was
great. We loved the service but after a while it started not being so great. It
eventually came to the point that we cancelled. Oh, before I forget. When it
comes to cost, there is no difference between the two services, so you can’t
appeal to my pocketbook.
I know that you have seconds to grab the audience’s attention.
To present your argument why I should buy your product. Some commercials are
hilarious and grab your attention enough that you may consider buying a
particular brand over a competitor. However, when you poke fun at a time in our
country when individuals and families were risking everything for a better life
is just wrong. To say that if someone has cable, they are living in the past
and not “keeping up with the Joneses” with satellite TV is not the way to get
new customers. Besides the “keeping up with the Joneses” argument doesn’t work
with me. I’m sure it may work for some but not all. I’m sure you can figure out
better ways to promote your product without insulting the memory of the
pioneers.
