I was recently at Target picking up a few necessity items. I was a little irritated that the lines were so long and they didn't have many cashiers open. It got to be my turn and as I always do I said hi to the cashier and asked her how she was doing. She didn't say a word back to me and didn't say anything through the entire transaction. At the end I thanked her and told her to have a good day and she just nodded and started ringing up the next guest. For whatever reason this triggered a flood of good memories about going to the grocery store with my Great Grandmother and my Aunt Sarah. You might find that odd, but let me explain.
My Great Grandmother did most of her grocery shopping at a place called Fremont Grocery. Right next to it was Fremont Pharmacy where she (and my entire family) got all of their prescriptions. This grocery store was a small corner store about a mile from her house. Even though it was very small it had all the general grocery items she needed. There was a butcher, fresh produce, and of course limited selection of dry and canned goods. The size really isn't the point though. You see the moment we walked into Fremont Grocery, the owner and all the employees in their immediately greeted us by name. "Good afternoon Mrs. Rowley, how are you today?" They would all call me by name too. The butcher knew what cuts of meet Great Grandma liked and how many pounds that she needed. Everything was done for her and my family's individual needs. This wasn't just great customer service either. The people there truly cared about their customers. They truly were interested and concerned about how we were all doing and vice versa. If Great Grandma for some reason couldn't get to the store, they would bring her what she needed to the house.
The same was true at Fremont Pharmacy. The pharmacist knew everyone by name. They had a relationship with the doctors and were very experienced in the medical field. You could actually go to the pharmacist for medical advice. When you picked up a prescription the pharmacist would talk to you about it and let you know what needed to be done and also what to be cautious with, etc. They truly care about their customers and their health.
As I was walking out of that Target store and was having these thoughts I really missed the days of going to Fremont Grocery. All of the Targets and Wal Marts of the world have definitely given us everything that we could possibly need at our finger tips. But to get this we have traded off people interacting and caring about each other. Everybody is just a number or a dollar sign. There is no connection between the stores and their customers. Sure there are some stores out there that provide great guest service. But do they truly care about the people that are patronizing them at a deeper level than a friendly hi, how are you? I kind of doubt it.
Today, believe it or not Fremont Pharmacy still hangs on up in my home town of Stockton. My family still fills their prescriptions there. Fremont Grocery closed, there is no way they could compete with the big box stores that moved into town.
These have been some really random thoughts, I know. I don't expect us to go back to shopping at corner grocery stores even though it is a very charming thought. I do believe however that employees and patrons giving each other courteous greetings and having some genuine conversation would not hurt anyone. As a matter of fact it might even make somebody's day. Even in a giant big box store.
