Anyway, my shower has a shelf that’s just perfect for beer. But as I set the beer mug down, I thought “I hope it doesn’t fall, and break.” Which got me to thinking. I remember back when I was much much younger, we didn’t have plastic items like we do today. And if I remember right, most things came in glass bottles. Like ketchup, salad dressing, and yes, shampoo. And if you dropped it, probably in a cast iron tub, it shattered all over. Then you had to deal with the tiny shards of glass. Well, you get the idea. Now, if you drop the shampoo, you pick it up. That’s all. Isn’t life today wonderful?
Which got me thinking about grocery stores back in the day. My first real job was at Kroger’s. And I started thinking how cool it would be if I could go back in time (OK, I know that’s not realistic, but just go with it here.) and see what it was like. First of all, while I thought it was a big store, by today’s standards, it was tiny. The Kroger’s in PC has moved/expanded twice since then, each time getting much larger. But even the current one is tiny compared to the one in Perrysburg, which is getting replaced as we speak with an even larger one. I remember some of the aisles (Aisle 3 comes to mind) that you had trouble getting two carts down them side by side. And aisle 3 had a pole in the middle, just to make it harder. (I also remember that matches were right by that pole. Not sure why I remember that.)
But I don’t think there was much plastic. I remember when I was working there, they just came out with plastic milk cartons. You could still get the paper ones for a dime less. (can you imagine trying to pour out of a paper gallon carton? Wonder we didn’t spill milk every time.) But most other things were still in glass.
It’s easy to look back at the “old days” and think they were better, but I'm not so sure.
I also remember that we closed at 9 PM. Really. And closed on Sunday. Although sometime during my career at Kroger’s, they started experimenting with Sunday hours. Paid us double time. Cool! I also remember that we all hated working 4 to 9 on Friday, because back in the day, everyone seemed to do their grocery shopping either Friday night or Saturday morning. Really, how did we ever get anything done back then? Most stores closed at 5 most days. Not like today, when you can do your grocery shopping at 3 AM (And yes, I have done that, and yes, it’s a strange crowd.)
I also remembered I got paid $1.82.5 per hour. (yes, really it was half a cent). Doesn’t sound like much, but then I could stop at Bell Mell’s and get a Blue Ribbon for 40 cents. Not sure how that translates to today, but it occurs to me that, instead of fighting over the minimum wage, maybe we should adopt the PBR rule. Make the minimum wage 4 and a half times what the average cost of a Blue Ribbon is in the area. There, problem solved: no bickering, complaining, or name calling! That’s simple, fluid, and somehow seems fair.
Ok, that’s enough rambling. Sometimes blogs are just stupid thoughts. Actually, most times MY blogs are just stupid thoughts. And if you’re still reading now, I’m not sure if I’m grateful to you, or feel sorry for you. Not sure. But I know that, as I approach 60. (Yes, SIXTY! How did I get so old??) I find myself with an odd mix of thoughts. Many of them, like this, look back at the old days. But many of them still look forward with anticipation and wonder, as if I’m going to live forever.
A little odd, but that’s probably how it should be.
