Today was flu shots for Carole and me, at Safeway. Safeway is a community center, and not just a fine grocery store. I worked in grocery stores growing up, for most of my high school years, until my senior year and I worked for JC Penney. Outside of family, most of what I know I learned working in those two places, every bit as much as my high school, which was one of the best in the state of Texas, and yes, that is saying something.
Standing there, sitting there (a couple our age got up and gave us a seat!) and I smiled at a lot of people who I knew from my time as mayor.
My brief but pleasant chat with the pharmacist confirmed for me what a major contribution Safeway stores make in the U.S. My grandfather worked for Safeway.
With all of the attention on school and home in growing up, I woud add work, not just working in the yard but working for adults other than parents and teachers, learning from store managers and assistant managers and coworkers what work is about, how deeply satisfying it is and was for me. I looked forward to my jobs, rode a city bus to work down town, and the thing I suspect was going on is that I knew, just knew, that these people had a great deal to tell me about what it is to be an adult.
I'm grateful for that experience and glad, even though it's been years, decades, and its high time I am remembering it. Especially as the political season cannot be a daily diet. I'm also finishing up my teaching, which has been again a joy for me.
But I look forward to getting back to Bisbee, paying most of my attention to daily life here and to the occasional distraction of the news. And also looking forward to our long-standing plans to see Yellowstone, the Rockies, and so much more.
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