“WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE I.E. BEING SO GREAT AND SO TERRIBLE AT THE SAME TIME”: PLAYERS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE
2017 / Interviewed by Joel
Coming to the Inland Empire at a young age, Adam Farmer has seen the area grow from its dirt roots into the bustling infrastructure it supports today. As a thirty-plus year resident, Adam has seen the Inland Empires highs and lows, but the love remains the same. As the owner of the store Players, Adam has amassed a customer base that allowed him to meet people from all over the I.E. each with their own views and story.
“I been in Riverside since 83’ . . . yeah the growth is crazy, like Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula they are really established within the last twenty five years. I remember in High school and competing against Moreno Valley there was no any other High School . . . No Canyon Springs, no none of that. I remember going to Temecula after I graduated High School in ’ and driving through Temecula one week it said Rancho California and the next week it said Temecula on their sign like they couldn’t decide what they were. So, that growth factor and how those areas have grown less than thirty years . . . unbelievable yeah . . . That’s awesome. It’s a great area, I Love the Inland Empire, it's awesome.
Other areas that are less safe than others. So, if you go to
Orange County. You have Santa Ana, I’m not picking on them, and you have Irvine. What does Irvine think of Santa Ana? They are both in Orange County. Moreno valley is another example . . . Early mid 90’s when the carjacking started . . . it seemed like it started out here or at least that’s the public perception and the news covered it like Moreno Valley the capital of carjacking. I remember a person getting removed from a car, and the person holding on to the car getting dragged for feet. You can talk to officers and they have names for this area.
We opened the store in 84’ . . . I’d right after school get out I’d go directly to the store and work from like 3 o’clock till like seven. And go home, do homework. It was fun. You are in High School so you don’t necessarily tell everyone of your friends in the 80’s. I mean you are worried about what other people think . . . It's High School, and you sure as heck worried about what girls think.
I equate our comic shop a little bit to like the barber shop man. We can talk about the I.E. being so great and so terrible at the same time. You go in and just hang out and you talk about current things, talk about comics, talk about movies, talk about your girlfriend. I have people that travel a good distance. I have a guy that comes from Twentynine Palms. He Shops with a dude in Palm Springs and till . . . um he went on a Wednesday and the guy wasn’t open. He looked up to see the next local shop . . . it was Moreno valley. That’s a pretty long distance. He’s been shopping with me almost twenty years. Me, him, his wife all have birthdays in December. So we are always joking. They cuddle my comic store. I become their comic shop.”