Heard an old lady in Menlo yesterday say, Life sure was easier before they wanted you to do everything on these e-mail machines. Aint there any real people left anymore? While I do a lot of my work on an e-mail machine, I sometimes wander about the last part of her statement. As I was walking down Commerce Street in Summerville yesterday I thought about all the real people that owned the old businesses. It wasnt that long ago you could step into downtown Summerville and see three pharmacies - all locally owned and operated for generations. There were department stores, jewelry stores, hardware stores. I know times change, supposedly for the better - but I miss some things, like real people. Real people like Mr. Jackson at the drug store that would always make up my grannys stomach medicine. It was just a concoction that Dr. Spivey and Mr. Jackson came up with that wasnt much more than Mylanta and flavoring. When I would go in to pick it up, Mr. Jackson would say, How is Ms. Bessie? She hasnt been to town in a while. He would mix it up and put it in one of those dark brown medicine bottles, and Im quite sure he added a little extra mint flavor. It wasnt CVS, Walgreens or Wal-Mart for sure. I remember some asking Granny to switch to Wal-mart pharmacy when they came along and she said, Mr. Jackson will carry my bill from month to month if I run short - dont believe Wal-mart would do that. Enough said. Real people like Mr. Leroy Massey at the feed store in Menlo. I always tried to be sure that I had a little extra time when I stopped, because if I got back there in the feed room, Mr. Leroy would get me backed into a corner and wed lean up against feed sacks and talk politics. I cant begin to tell you how much I learned from him. Not only the history of local politics in Chattooga County, but just about politics in general. Things like how decisions made should be for the most good for the most people, and in the end its the people that matter. You cant learn life lessons and history like that at Tractor Supply. Real people like the old Farmers & Merchants Bank. When I bought my first new car on a Saturday afternoon I called the bank from Jimmy Blacks dealership and was told Just write a check well do the paperwork next week. Imagine that now. How I miss the little Farmers & Merchants Bank in Menlo. Ms. Sue was always a welcome sight when I got off from third shift in the card room at the cotton mill and came to cash my check. It wasnt a chain-bank, it was our bank. I know that time marches on and that everything about the good ole days wasnt all good, but sometimes I think about how nice it would be to find real people that really cared about the things they sold and the service they provide. With that, I think I will get off this e-mail machine and go dig some potatoes in the good mountain dirt.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 11:48:17 +0000
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