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L’OBSERVATEUR is posting a weekly reader poll on its Facebook page to engage readers in issues important to our local community. Our second poll was, “Do you prefer to shop in-parish (in the River Parishes of St. John, St. James, and St. Charles) or out-of-parish?”

Votes were cast by 152 of our Facebook friends.  Of these, 34 percent of respondents say they prefer to shop in the River Parishes, and 66 prefer to shop out of the area.

Besides voting, you can elaborate under the poll by posting comments just like any other Facebook post. Many readers gave further explanations of their voting in the comments section.

One reader commented, “In parish, we have just as much as any other parish. You might have to know where to look to find what you want. There is even a restaurant in a snowball stand. People complain about stores not lasting long in LaPlace but they support stores outside the parish. Stores cannot stay unless they get business.”  Someone else disagreed, saying, “Find me [a] decent pair of well-made wide ladies shoes in this parish.”

For the next poll question, we ask, “Remembering that Isaac was only supposed to be a rainy day off of work and with Tropical Storm Cristobal headed this way, are you prepared for Hurricane Season right now?”

In the comments, you can speak to what more you need to do the get prepared, or you can comment on things you have done that some people might not have thought of.  Both of those types of comments could be helpful to your neighbors in their preparations. You might also mention where some of the harder to find items are still available.

The results will be available in next Saturday’s L’OBSERVATEUR.