Believe it or not, Ripley Mississippi is overflowing with thriving industries. Its streets are clean. Its people are smiling. Someday soon we need to send a team of great social scientists there to explore how Ripley has accomplished such great success so that our entire nation can benefit.

One attraction that obviously makes Ripley more successful is an event called FIRST MONDAY. It was launched way back in the last part of the 19th century in an effort to help farmers market their wares directly to consumers. Even after a hundred years of experimentation there is still a lot of produce being sold at First Monday.

For many consumers the primary reason for coming to First Monday is to stock up on fresh fruits, melons, potatoes, trees to plant, geese, ducks, chickens, pigeons, goats, donkeys, dogs and probably cats too, as well as rare birds, iguanas, parakeets, snakes and so forth. But far more sellers now focus on flea market merchandise to make most of the profits. Wrenches, garden tools, gloves, printed T-shirts, work shirts, work pants, caps, flags, bumper stickers, pharmaceuticals, boxed and canned groceries, rifles, guns, ammunition, bows, knives, toys of all descriptions, and of course, cooked delicacies.

First Monday starts on the first Saturday of each month that comes before a Monday in that month. Consequently, First Monday will occasionally be held on a weekend for the Second Monday of the month.

Vendor nationality fluctuates from Good Old Boys to Yankee, from Red Neck to Viet Namese. Customer nationality is even wider. I saw one family from Guatemala visiting and two college boys from Peru were there selling South American flutes and flute music. Illegal aliens ran about 10% of the throng and were buying groceries like they were going out of style.

There is a lot of ground to cover here. First Monday is so large an event that you