WHEN SUPERMARKETS CAME TO TOWN

When I was a little girl, my family lived next to a grocery store. Since I was barely four at the time, I just naturally assumed grocery stores were always within skipping distance.

Whatever we needed was literally just a few steps away. Run out of butter, no worries. Just pop over to Mr. R’s grocers with a few coins. Shoes laces ripped, no problem. Shuffle next door and get a new pair.

And, oh joy, if I had a few extra pennies, a hop, skip and jump away was a fully stocked candy counter, ice cream freezer and racks with bags of snacks, like pretzels, potato chips and a new thing called Korn Kurls.

Now, with COVID 19 stalking us at every turn, our world has been turned upside down, no doubt about it. Things we once took for granted, have all changed.

Shopping at the mall, a stroll in the park, dinner at our favorite restaurant, have been altered, possibly forever.

But grocery shopping, never one of my favorite activities, has suddenly become more of a challenge, what with mobile apps, and reserved time pick-up and delivery schedules.

Out of stock, a term I never expected to hear regarding Taco kits and garbage bags, is now the norm.

In fact, there are a whole host of terms and phrases that I’ve become accustomed to in a short span of time.

Such as social distancing, don’t forget your mask, where are my rubber gloves, and suiting up.

For those of us of a certain age (ahem) however, time at home has us reminiscing, and longing for, that simpler time.

Growing up in the inner-city, my neighborhood boasted three or four grocery stores, not to mention the best bakery in the world ever, just up the street.

We called them Mom and Pop stores, because like the one next to my house, they were generally owned and operated by a couple, in our case Mr. & Mrs. R.

They pretty much had, at least one of everything you needed to make a meal, plus shoe laces, milk, light bulbs, fuses and candy and ice cream for us kids.

Then the supermarkets came to town, rolling in on a tide of post-war consumerism.

One by one, our little corner grocers disappeared and with them a part of Americana.

It was too late and too bad for them because we had fallen head over heels in love with the new kid on the block, the SUPERMARKET. The one that had, oh can you believe it, more than one brand to choose from, like Halo and Breck shampoo, Duz and Tide detergents. They didn’t have penny candy, but we overlooked that failing in our lust for more, more, more of everything.

With wide aisles and bright lighting, rows upon rows of fully stocked shelves were crammed with canned goods, breads, produce and pastas.

It was jaw dropping. There was this new stuff called frozen foods, with an even newer frozen offering, TV Dinners.

Oh, and cake mixes, where you just added eggs, oil and water. Although, quite often the cake ended up looking more like a crater.  But we ate around the edges and thought, wasn’t this new cake mix stuff just too grand!

How lucky we were to have this Taj Mahal of provisions only eight miles away.

While nowadays my supermarket is a bit closer, it is certainly not within skipping distance, like Mr. R’s was.

However, thanks to Covid 19, our now limited supermarket choices may be closer to our old Mom and Pop grocers than they ever were.

Wish I could just pop over to Mr. R’s for some whipped cream. I know he’d have at least one can.

Looks like my reminiscence of a simpler time may become a reality.

Be careful what you wish for!