[speekinout]

I’m also old enough to remember “the good old days”. Yes, we did have locally owned grocery stores. But we didn’t have fresh produce for much of the year - I remember late winter when we just hoped that we could find onions and potatoes that weren’t terribly sprouted. We wouldn’t have thought of having fresh fruit.
The drugstore always had enough syrup and flavorings to make us good fountain drinks (I miss those), but the hardware store, the dress store, and the gas station never had everything we needed.
I really prefer these days when we can get anything we want when we want. And at cheap prices.

[spikeytx86]

I like it the way it is as well. Now admittedly I am too young to have been around for the NR America, however I do remember Woolworth's and their little diner that served fountain drinks,burgers,hot dogs, and my favorite grilled cheese. I wish Wal-Mart’s would dump McD’s and open up a little greasy spoon like the old department stores used to have. I admit it’s for nostalgia but I think they would probably do a clean up!

[cajungirl]

I wasn’t knocking Wal Mart. Just was afflicted with nostalgia for the past. There were awful things back then, I grew up in the deep south, but the bedrock was an absolute security with the greatest fear being that of disappointing one’s people. Doors were not locked {unless someone had something to hide}, cars were left out with no locks, laundary was clean and on the line drying, sheets smelled good and were cotton, fans droned, we read books all summer, the man at the grocery called us by our names, when we needed gas and had no money on us, the man at the station said “I’ll get it from your Dad later”.

You just can’t equate convenience with that, or money, or anything. It was secure. Maybe today there is the same security and it is just attached to different things.

WalMart makes me anxious, just going in gives me the hebbie jeebies. But I go in, their veggies are great.