progress or progression?

  I grew up in the time of the Mom and Pop neighborhood stores. Heck, even the stores uptown where Mom and Pop outfits for the most part, just a bit richer. I didn't have any chain stores that I could ride my bicycle too. The closest thing I remember was the Sears Catalogue store. You went there to pick up your order and sometimes they had stuff there for sale. I guess it was stuff that others failed to pick up. But no Walmart, Woolworth, Kmart, or anything like that. The same family operated three businesses on main street. Yes, that is where I grew up and I loved it. It was all I knew, so nothing to miss. 

 Years later, after having lived in several states around this nation I settled down in Greensboro, Maryland. With a population of about 1800 it reminded me of "home" in a few ways. All the stores were Mom and Pop outfits here too. It's true that I can drive a short distance and get to all those big box chain outfits whenever I want but  a comfort to shop at the little Mom and Pop places. Of course that wasn't always the smartest financial move and as a result some of their business was drained off. I was here when the last hardware store closed its' doors. He couldn't compete with Lowes and Home Depot. A real shame. It was a fine, old fashioned hardware store with a wooden floor that creaked and groaned, paint spatters on the floor by the paint shaker, shelves stuffed with items, little bins of nuts and bolts. There was tuff hanging from the ceiling, dust covered, untouched for years but there if you needed it, like a bit of harness leather or a seal for your well pump. Yes and there was a real helpful hardware man to assist you if you wanted, called you by name and asked about your family. 

 We still have the pharmacy though, The Greensboro Pharmacy. That's the name and part of the Epic family of pharmacies. The pharmacy is now where the hardware store was. I've been here long enough to remember where it used to be, that building now a Bodega. Yes, that's right a bodega, I believe that is the best term to describe that establishment. I went in there once to check it out. The operators didn't speak very good English and eyed me suspiciously as they watched a soccer match on tv. I wouldn't say unfriendly, guarded is more like it. The appliance sales and repairs business is still going strong, they are celebrating fifty years. And yes, I have purchased appliances from them. Down on the corner of Main Street and Sunset Avenue, referred to as four corners in the old days, long before I was a resident here, was Greensboro's version of a 7-11. Gas, a few groceries and a grill. Now it has new ownership.

 It is that new ownership that inspired this writing. I went in there yesterday for the first time in a good while. In its' last days that store, Bodies Market was the official name, had become a haven for shall we say the underside of Greensboro. The owner paid his workers the minimum amount, the hours were long, and no benefits. As a result the help was always coming and going due to various life changes, if you get my drift. Seems like once they started selling lottery tickets and playing keno, it became somewhat of a hangout. Sub sandwiches and fried chicken were the staple of fast food in Greensboro and they provided that. But that has changed now, with new owners.

 The new owners are working behind the counter and have cleaned up, fixed up, and generally made the place more presentable. They have had new gas pumps installed, the old ones were in pretty bad shape, leftovers from the 1970's in style and function. The grill is still there, subs still available along with fried chicken but the emphasis is on liquor sales. The small grocery section is all but gone. It's a different feel together. I found myself looking for bars on the windows and a cashier in a cage. It isn't a chain store but it sure isn't Mom and Pop. Some call it progress, but what I'm seeing is a progression. And I don't like where it is going. I spoke briefly with an employee noting how I hadn't been aware of new ownership. He explained the owners didn't really want to advertise that as they felt it would be detrimental. That should tell you something right there. No grand opening, just a change in the night. 

 Well as Merle Haggard wrote, "everything does change except what you choose to recall" and there is no stopping that. Greensboro has a population of about 2500 now, was about 1800 when I first moved here. The old timers were speaking fondly of their memories growing up in what used to be. Now I find myself doing the same after having been here a mere twenty-five years or so. A generation. My son is the Mayor of Greensboro now, has been for a few years.! Yes a lot can change in a generation. It does make me wonder though, progress or progression. Things change.