It was a little bit like living in Mayberry. You know, where Andy Taylor and Barney Fife were the friendly local policemen (and Barney had only one bullet).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/beeskneesdaily/11503745133/
There were only two grocery stores in the town, and one was strangely off limits. I was not quite sure why, but approaching it felt wrong and somehow my sister and I obeyed this 6th sense. Once a week we could purchase a candy bar, and it was always to Delph's store that we brought our precious dimes.The Other Store was directly across the street. Next to the Tavern. The Tavern also gave off a rather shadowy feeling (one never knew what might come out of it), so we thought it best not to venture in.
But one day (perhaps in Junior High) I was invited into the Other Store by a friend. It had been a long time since our mother had actually said anything about the Other Store...it looked normal on the outside; Mother was not there, and my friend was walking casually in. "Are you coming?" she said.
As I saw her back disappearing into its depths, I gave a final glance at Delph's, and stepped in. It looked pretty much the same as Delph's. There were the canned foods; there were flour, salt, and pepper; and there were...oh! I suddenly saw the reason for my mother's warnings. It was because, dear Readers, there was a display of Girlie Magazines on the shelves. Really! there was. I had not heard of a Girlie Magazine, and did not know that such things existed. But there they were right on the counter next to the till.
We were, it must be admitted, shocked.
We might laugh now, but that day I felt sorry for the Girlie girls. Someone must have forgotten to tell them they were supposed to be WEARING CLOTHES. I glanced up at the proprietess, looking at me, looking at the magazines. "Can I help you?" she said, not too kindly.
My friend and I suddenly lost our nerve, and fled. "What should we DO??" I breathed, once we had escaped. "This is terrible!"
We decided that we would do something, and make a Stand. The next day we went back and walked up to the lady behind the counter:
- we said we didn't think girlie magazines were a good idea for a grocery store
- we shared that they were not good for business because mothers wouldn't want to go in
- we said they could put the magazines down behind the counter
- the proprietess refused our suggestions and told us to GET OUT OF THERE (without saying please..)
- we sent them a letter, stating that we wanted to take our concerns to the City Council
My mother, unbeknownst to me, watched these things with interest. She was rather proud about it.
The proprietess, however, was not impressed. She did finally relent and place her magazines behind the counter, out of sight of the children in town. But she had one stipulation:
My friend and I were "NEVER TO ENTER HER STORE, ever, again" - (not that I ever wanted to go back. She was spooky).
On the following Saturday, my sister and I went to Delph's to purchase our beloved weekly candy bars. Mr. Delph was clearly pleased. "Welcome back! What'll it be?" he boomed out.
After all that high stress and drama, after making the other grownups so mad, it was just a relief to be back in 'Mayberry' again. My home town.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ucumari/1506064044/
See you along the way!
the SconeLady
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84568447@N00/4812561142/">Fred Seibert</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucumari/1506064044/">ucumari</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
Remember buying a piece of bologna at Delph's Market? It tasted so good!
ReplyDeleteYes I do! I sure wish Mr Delph was still there, and still slicing up that bologna.
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