A GROCERY STORE

You notice things as you get older.

I have shopped at the same grocery store for decades.
I have watched it morph through several owners, all the while not losing sight of its purpose – to supply customers with a first class shopping experience: abundant, fresh produce; meats; canned goods; dairy; etc., etc..

And eventually was added a bank; a pharmacy; a special card system; a gas station; a bakery; a deli; and so on.

And it was swell.

And then came a sale to a new owner.

And then favorite brands of decades began to disappear from the shelves. In-store brands began to replace the old favs.
Choices were reduced.
Produce space reduced.

The big draws ceased to be food…becoming gasoline credits and ‘points’ and cashiers were replaced by ‘self-checkout’ lines….

I, the old-timer, was displaced at last when cases of refrigerated water was moved into former produce shelves and the remaining produce shelves too-often ran out of stock.

There was always plenty of water.

And so we are shopping now at several other stores to make up for what had been a splendid full-service entity.

And the staff of the former delight was so reduced in number as to be virtually absent.

Change.

It happens.
It is not always good.