Sometimes at work, I feel a close connection to the past.
Weighing Potatoes for example. We have five kinds of seed potatoes this year. Fifty pound bags have to be opened up, and smaller bags made.
I volunteer for this job, because I enjoy the process, and it reminds me of my family.
My dad, SW, and his father, SW Sr., both spent their working lives in a grocery store.
The produce in the store had to be fresh, and look fresh. So every day, celery and lettuce was taken out of plastic bags and the stalks trimmed. Then put into new bags. Apples, and bannanas were gently checked for bruises, then removed if they didn't look good. Bell peppers, lemons, yellow and white onions, and other items were straightened and refilled. Baking potatoes were sold by the pound, and by the bag. This picture is the Minit Saver Market produce section. About 1980.
In earlier days, seed potatoes and onion sets were sold.
I imagine our Grandaddy Stone bagging seed potatoes, and talking to people at the same time. He had a wonderful, dry sense of humor.
This time of year, February, is still cold, and winter has not yet given up. At the same time, spring has not arrived. The between time , and daily weather give us all something to fuss and talk about.
With the changing seasons, we are reminded that time passes quickly.
Seems like yesterday to me, that Melanie, Sheri and I were working at the store after school and on the weekends.
There was plenty to do...Sweeping and mopping inside. Cleaning the doors and windows with Windex. Dumping out the ash trays, and cleaning them with 409 and a paper towell. Pulling up the coolers to make them look full and nice. We made a list of soft drinks to restock, then put them in a buggy in the cooler. Getting the trash together, and taking it to the dumpster. Before closing time, we took the drinks out of the buggy to sell the next day. One of the last things each night was sweeping the parking lot with a long handle broom.
We had a "nightly list," that I wish I could find. There was an order and rhythm to the work. When the register got busy, all of that stopped, and we helped up front. Then back to the nightly list.
Bagging seed potatoes gives me hope that cold days are about to give way to warmer ones. It also reminds me simple times can still be found. And anything that connects us to the past, and makes us smile, is worth volunteering for.
For more pictures and Minit Saver information, search Minit Saver Market, Tullahoma, on Facebook.