Easter Memories Can you even imagine this world?
What is striking is how everything went from local and privately owned to corporate and consolidated.
For a few Easter examples....
In my small town, there were at least 6 different private butchers who made their own kielbasa, including smoking it in sheds out back. My grandparents made their own kielbasa complete with mustard seeds.
Each neighborhood had its own ethnic church within walking distance. Each day we awoke to the sound of church bells ringing. I walked to church with my family. We took baskets of food to my grandparents' church to be blessed on Saturday afternoon. Of course that brick church has since been destroyed by a fire.
There were many local chocolate shoppes who made their own chocolate. The number of private ethnic bakeries were too numerous to recall. We trekked to the local greenhouse to buy my Mom's easter flower...a hyacinth. Everything was local and privately owned.
We walked to school before they incorporated our town school into their DISTRICT. We knew the houses that our teachers lived in. The card shops were local. The pharmacies were local. The news stands were local. There were too many local pizza places to count. It was a thrill to go to the local hardware store.
Amusement parks were locally owned, each with its own unique character. Of course, they have all been torn down and dismantled. My Dad rode the local trams to these parks. They have all been dismantled as well.
Every little town had their own movie theater. We walked to the Saturday afternoon matinees. There were many drive-in theaters.
Instead of going to a local college or University as my Dad did, we trekked hundreds of miles away, breaking up families and communities.
We now have no roots. Not only were we disconnected from our European roots of our ancestors, we are disconnected from our core family. All by design... in a VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
There was no
CVS
Target
Walmart
Amazon
Cell phones
Internet
Walgreen's
Kohl's
Whole Foods
Costco
Trader Joe's
Burger King
McDonald's
Pizza Hut
Friday's
Home Depot
Lowe's
Computers
Starbucks
Dunkin Donuts
Dollar Tree
Michael's
Dick's Sporting Goods
TJ Maxx
Marshall's
Tractor Supply
Planet Fitness
Can you even imagine a world without the above entities?
Can you even imagine it?
My grandparents lived in Forest City, about an hour away from where you grew up in Wilkes-Barre, and I remember several times grandfather and family all working together the hand grinder to make keilbasa. From a backed away perspective, this form of life was somewhat artificially created, pulling in foreigners to mine coal for a hundred years, die it out, to then result in what your perspective points to. So that it just seems like a script.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree with you. The rapidity of change that I have witnessed within my lifetime is jawdropping. I cannot address what happened before my lifetime. From what my grandparents told me, life was similar in the States compared to Europe. THEY had to transition people away from their land and traditions for slave labor in the States. This place is not a school. It harvests energy from manKIND. Thanks for your comment, best regards, db
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