The day the ‘shock’ of October 2 became literal for a jewelry store
Imagine building your dream, brick by brick, or rather, link by link of a golden chain, so that on an afternoon of chaos, a group of people with more enthusiasm than conscience reduces it to a bitter memory and a loss account that would make any bankrupt influencer cry. This is the story of Melanie, a businesswoman whose premises, 24K Style, in the heart of the Majestic Jewelry Center, became the perfect loot during the riots of the October 2nd commemorative march. The losses, estimated between two and a half and three million pesos, are proof that sometimes history is not only remembered, but paid for, and dearly.
We are not talking about fast fashion jewelry that you buy online. Melanie lost the good stuff: solid chains and brand-name pieces that are the jewelry equivalent of a limited edition. “I was able to rescue something, there are those who lost everything,” he commented with a resignation that only those who have seen their job ruined understand. He had been in business for a decade, navigating the roller coaster of the economy in the Historic Center, but he had never experienced an impact of this magnitude. The memory of Tlatelolco, a tragic chapter, added a new and painful addendum for the merchants of the area.
Insurance, that unattainable ‘crush’ that you never wanted to have
Here comes the plot twist that hurts more than paying for shipping on an online purchase: Melanie didn’t have insurance. And before you take out your accusing finger, she explains it with the crudeness of someone who knows the system: “Like insurance for a jewelry store here in the Center is very expensive, no, I didn’t have one, no one here has insurance.” It is the eternal dilemma of the small businessman: betting everything that nothing will happen, because the cost of protecting himself is, ironically, prohibitive. A risk calculation that, this time, went horribly wrong, transforming inventory into total losses and a brutal lesson in applied finance.
Thursday afternoon turned into a real-time nightmare. While your timeline was filled with stories of the march, Melanie received the notice of the looting. Immediately afterwards, she rushed towards the jewelry center with the hope of being the heroine of her own film, of rescuing her merchandise against all odds. But the script was not Hollywood. Upon arrival, he found a scene that he cannot make a funny reel of: blocked access, the helplessness of seeing his business, his life, violated and not being able to do anything. She couldn’t get through immediately, a euphemism to describe the physical and emotional barrier between her and the remains of her venture.
This event exposes the vulnerability of small businesses at the epicenter of social protests. This is not about minimizing the importance of the protest or historical memory, but rather pointing out the collateral effect that falls on those who, like Melanie, are not political actors, but rather people trying to get their business going in an area that periodically becomes a tinderbox. The security of businesses is the great pending issue, the detail that is always overlooked in the great national debate, until it is someone’s turn to pay the price, or in this case, the gold chains.
Melanie’s story is a reminder that, in the era of the creator and entrepreneur economy, instability can come through the front door, or rather, through the one it was forced through. It is a wake-up call about the need to discuss protection protocols for small businesses, to find affordable solutions that prevent a day of protest from becoming eternal night for a family business. Meanwhile, the balance is a looted premises, a dizzying account of losses and the certainty that, sometimes, the past is not only commemorated, but repeated in the most unexpected and cruel way.
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