TIGHT LINES
THINK GLOBALLY, SHOP LOCALLY
with Andrew Spencer
Outsourcing is one of those things we hear about in the news periodically. And even though everybody knows what it is, it's kind of tough to explain to someone who doesn't know about it. So I went to Wikipedia, that killer online source of all useless information in the world. According to that bastion of knowledge, the word first gained prominence in the 1980s, and "refers to the delegation of non-core operations from internal production to an external entity specializing in the management of that operation." Thank God we got that one cleared up, no?

What all that gibberish is really saying is that a company relocates part of whatever it does to another place. That's outsourcing. Take the computer I type on as an example. I grudgingly use a Dell, and I say grudgingly not because I'm a big fan of Macintosh, but rather because Dell has caused me some major headaches over the years with technical issues and hardware problems. Then when you call to get help with whatever issue it is, you end up having your call rerouted to someone in Sri Lanka. The person on the other end of the line is certainly qualified and always helpful, but Dell's headquarters are in Austin, Texas. They get people elsewhere, though, to answer service calls. And that, friends and neighbors, is outsourcing.

Speaking of outsourcing, there's been a recent collective crying of foul from a certain segment of the southeastern United States population. These folks are a little irked because they've discovered that their livelihood is, in a sense, being outsourced. Well, not exactly outsourced, but it's kind of the same idea. You see, American catfish farmers have some competition from places like Vietnam. Did anybody out there actually know that there were such people as catfish farmers in the world?

And when you get right down to it, did anybody out there actually know that it was possible to outsource fishing?

That's a segue, no matter what part of the world you find yourself in.

It seems that the American catfish farmers are a little miffed because these outsourced catfish aren't even catfish. They're Asian basa and tra fish. They don't resemble catfish in any way, and specifically not in the way they taste. Problem with that, though, is a lot of people out there don't have just a whole lot of experience with catfish, especially once it's already filleted. So you go to the store and you buy your "Asian catfish," figuring it's the same thing. And unless you're a southern fried-fish connoisseur (these previously unknown entities just keep popping up today), you don't know the difference. After all, fish is fish, right?

As my boy Lee Corso has been known to say, "Not so fast, my friend."

When you go out and buy an Armani suit, you have a level of expectation. When your Armani turns out to be an Arnani, suffice it to say that your expectations aren't quite met. Same thing here. When you want catfish, you want catfish. You don't want some poseur fish pretending to be a catfish.

Now I'm pretty sure one or two of you out there are scratching your heads and thinking this time I've really lost it. "There aren't any catfish in Nantucket, Andrew," you're saying, "so there's really no way you can tie this into anything Nantucket-related."

Cue the Lee Corso quote again.

Since it's the first week in December, that can mean only one thing here on Nantucket. Yep, it's Christmas Stroll time, and shop owners are flinging open the doors with the hopes that you'll drop a chunk of change. Now, while I don't want to tell

you people how to spend your money, I have told you a bajillion times before that it pays to shop locally. And I know it also costs to shop locally, but that extra couple of bucks you save by buying something off island or online will come in handy when it comes time to buy what you actually need to replace whatever equipment some yahoo in Lincoln, Neb., convinced you that you needed, even though he's never been to Nantucket, let alone fished here.

For those non-anglers out there who are shopping for the anglers in their lives, remember that there aren't any stupid questions. Well, actually, that's not true. My girlfriend's sister-in-law once asked how you launched the boat when you went ice fishing, since the lake was frozen and all. That might qualify as a stupid question; the jury is still out on that one. But anyway, assuming you all realize that ice fishing doesn't involve the use of boats, there really aren't any stupid questions. Ask these people what you should be getting, and they'll gladly tell you. And the added bonus is that they know what you really need to fish in Nantucket, because they all fish here. It's kind of nice how that works out. Don't be afraid to say how much you want to spend, and, more importantly, don't be afraid to ask. Just make sure you ask locally. Happy strolling.

Tight lines.

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