THICK OR THIN

While this photo is not the original, it could have been. Maybe a stretch, because my dad's grocery carried more than poultry and meat.

In MTV on South 10th Street where a carpet store used to be located, where old timers might remember WG Motors, stood the Red and White. That was the grocery my dad owned along with his brother-in-law. I think there was a third owner, a Mr. Garrison, but I'll have to check with my brother on that fact.

Note of errata. I try not to embellish or stretch truths in my blogs, but I found a couple of errors in the Hang Gliding blog. First of all, I later read that the hang gliders in Jackson Hole were tandems, one being a professional. That may explain the great maneuvers and heights they achieved. Also I referred to one doing a 180; actually it was a 360. My high school geometry teacher, Mrs. Richardson would not have approved.

Anyway(s), my dad's store featured the first self-service grocery carts in town. Until then, you went to the counter and the grocer would run to get what you needed. I remember a few neighborhood grocery stores that operated that way when I was a kid. Mr. Leibengood's on South 21st was one where I liked my parents to order baloney (I know; it's bologna, but that's not what we called it) sliced thick. About 3/4 inch per slice would do. In fact I still order meat cut thick. It usually confuses the deli meat slicers, who often echo incorrectly,"Thin?" "No, thick," I insist.

Dad lost interest in the store after his brother-in-law was killed in the Battle of the Bulge. As a kid my brother worked in the Red and White. By the time I came along, Dad was a salesman, so I had to go to Kenny's on 20th or Gus' on 21st to get my thick cut.