Liberty Drip

In Florida, our preferred grocery store chain is Publix, "Where Shopping is a Pleasure." The stores have always been bright, clean, and well-stocked. The employees were always friendly and helpful. They smiled when you spoke to them. They cared... these people are a memory.  Publix was the last best hope for people like myself, who worked in customer contact positions all their lives and were trained to treat customers well, to underpromise and overdeliver. We were trained to be good to our customers, or we were shown the door. I miss those days. I miss walking into a place of business and not being treated like an inconvenience. I'm here to spend my money and help you keep your job so you can have money, too. Don't be so ungrateful about it. I was aware of a steady, subtle decline in the quality of not only Publix's service, but the quality of their products, too. I was prompted to sit down and write this because the half & half I bought from Publix not a wee...

 My generation was among the last of the free-range kids. We played outside. Our parents had no idea where we were unless we were hungry, hurt, or in trouble. We were out with the sunrise and in with the streetlights... sometimes. We were free in a way my kids can only imagine and my grand-kids will never believe possible. Times were different, they were simpler. We really were free. All in one lifetime. All in one lifetime. We didn't know it but we were bobbing in the wake of the 60's counterculture revolution and Vietnam and Watergate. I remember the Iran Hostage situation being on the TV at night and on the front pages of newspapers and the covers of magazines. I remember the image of a blindfolded man and each day, the number was higher. And then there's Ron. He turned it around, didn't he? Well, maybe not but he got the hostages back and gave America hope again. He put us on the path to prosperity. At least, that was how it felt. Reagan was cool. He was happy and o...