Al's Morning Blog - Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017

I thought about S&H green stamps this morning. They were located everywhere. Here in Beaumont on Calder Avenue just down from Bill Thames pharmacy. (Both are gone.) I remember how excited when it came time to cash in and grab a gift. There was some pretty good stuff, too.  By today’s standards, paltry. But it was a big deal for us. We had the day old bread places. Rainbow had one as did the other bread companies. We always avoided eye contact with other customers so they wouldn’t see us dumpster diving. I don’t know why we were ashamed. Good deals abounded. Half price bread, cookies, cakes. All good and only a day old. If we ran into a friend, startled, we would exclaim: “I’ve never been here before. This is my first time.” We lied. We appreciated good deals. Burger Chef had 6 burgers for a buck on Friday. We loved it. Nowadays, people expect it. Two for one? You bet. Half off, every day? Yessir!! We didn’t have credit cards so we had to pay with cash or check. You paid the doctor bill and the house note and the utility bill.  YOU WOULDN’T DARE BE LATE. Now, it’s a different story. We expect free stuff and even the clerks at the store don’t acknowledge. Used to be if you thanked the clerk they answered: “You are most welcome.” Now, it’s “No problem”. Yep, that’s it. No problem.