ELI STEELE: Working American fights pandemic, supply chain and inflation to keep business alive

Working Americans Michelle and Eric Smith struggle to keep their American Dream alive amid a slew of economic woes and leaders indifferent to the suffering of small businesses.

I have to admit that I had become jaded with that word. I have lived in Los Angeles for the past 25 years, and the hardest thing to find there or in other urban areas is a community, or even a sense of one. Most of the businesses lining the streets where I live are corporate-owned, and their windows are often covered in ads trying to entice the dollar out of my pocket and into theirs. 

However, when I walked into Brewed Downtown for the first time, there was a sense of Déjà vu as Michelle rolled up to me on her mobility scooter and greeted me with a mug of freshly brewed coffee that hit the spot. Customers stumbled in, sleep still in their eyes, and they were greeted by their names. As Eric made breakfast in the kitchen, conversations were picked up from where they were left off last time.