Shopping

I remember walking into mom and pop stores and the people who owned them knew their customers by name. Many times they were the places to go to learn what was going on in the community. There was a sense of friendliness to them, a sense of belonging.

Not so today. Today we have convenience stores, most of which don't carry what it is you are really after. Set up in a way to attract you to the purchase of junk you really don't need. Full of junk instead of practical items. With a corporate air that leaves you feeling like a stranger.

There were also big stores where you could go to make big purchases. If you needed new appliances you went to an appliance store. There too you would be known. Often the people who owned them would even remember what you had purchased last.

They carried one brand and if you wanted another you simply went to another store.

They could assist you in making a purchase because they knew you and had a sense of what you were after. If there was a problem with something you purchased, they had their own repairmen who would fix it. Usually within the same day you called.

Not so today. You now walk into a big store that is loaded with so many different items that they need a computer to tell them what is there. The people who work there are so overburdened they have no idea what it is you are looking at.

So your left on your own to make a wise decision. Should that item break down, you need to call a phone center states away and try to explain the problem with people who can't even speak proper english let alone understand.

Then you finally get your problem across and now have to wait until a repairman calls you to make an appointment. Then you have to explain again what the problem is. Finally weeks later they come and find they have to order the part. They don't even have parts for the appliances they work on in their vans.

By the time you get your washing machine fixed, you now have enough laundry to wear it out!

There were many stores where you could purchase different things. They carried specific items by specific companies.

Not so today. Today there are big stores that you need a road map to venture through. You need benches to rest up on while on your journey seeking what you want. You almost need a motel placed inside those stores so you have a place to sleep overnight!

Then when you finally find what your after, you find what they carry is junk. Not quality items, but items that were made to last only a few weeks and then have you back looking for more. When you do go back, you find they no longer carry what you bought before. It's been replaced by even more junk.

Yah, these stores of today do save you a few buck on the initial purchase price. But what are we really saving in the long run. When that washer breaks down we have to spend a fortune at the laundry mats while we're waiting. We have to make two or three purchases of other things to equal the lives of the other products. Then there is the hassle and cost of running to do those things.

Bring back the stores that carried the quality items! Bring back the stores that cared about the customers because they would be repeat business! Bring back the stores that I didn't need to spend a day walking through to find toilet paper!

So hey, how about clicking on that Join button and showing us your smiling face. We're all family here in this world. We all have similar problems and lives. We all put up with idiotic decisions made by our governments. But we all need each other to make a better world possible...