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Wouldn't be too stunned if NASA's Mars rover Perseverance transmitted back photos of a few Dollar Generals on the Red Planet.

My hometown isn't big, but big enough to have proper grocery stores. A population slightly over 34K.

There are quite a few smaller towns in the area. It wasn't that long ago that most of them all had their own grocery store. Just one, but enough for a smaller community. And though small, those grocery stores would still employ about 8 to 15 people. Young gals working the cashier, young fellas doing bagging and stocking. The older ladies and gents back in the bakery. And if it was posh enough, someone in a floral area.

For the most part these would be people from that community. In the case of the baggers and cashiers, younger persons getting their first job and a chance to learn something about their community and the people that make it up.

But that's how things were in those smaller towns. Most of those grocery stores are gone, along with the staff... and the husk is filled up with the Dollar General and the litany of mismatched things tossed pell-mell on shelves. I'm sure that depends on the store and the person running.

And that's one part of it: the ones I have visited are not staffed by people from the community, but someone carting it in from one of the bigger cities. I can't make sense of it, but Green Bay, WI seems to be where most of these managers are coming from. Driving 30 to 60 miles (one way) to work a long shift as head honcho of the Dollar General.

The most amount of employees I have ever seen at a Dollar General has been 3. And that's rare. Not uncommon to see 1 lass or lad running the entire joint... and typically dressed in a manner that says, "just be thankful I opened the store".

This is apparently the best these communities can get now. And, at least they have something. Still a far cry from the sense of community that the grocery store was able to foster.

Grocery stores are much more expensive; in a nation filled with people struggling to make ends meet, they need everything as cheaply as possible. What you can get at a Dollar General for $50 will cost twice that at a traditional grocery store. And that is before the smart coupons.

But with gas prices being what they are, if I need just one thing, it only has to cost less than the gas to drive somewhere else to get it.

There seems to be a hierarchy. Gas station stuff, Dollar General, little grocery store, bigger grocery store, Walmart, Costco, Buc-Kees.

It’s so weird to think… but back when I was in high school and dating my girlfriend, I used to stand by her till while she was working. I’m stunned, in retrospect, that the store manager even allowed me to do that.

Whenever she would greet a customer and they would ignore it, this ol White Knight had to defend her honor by saying something like, “pardon me, you’re standing closer to her than I am, and I heard her greet you. It’s not hard to greet her back.”

To which my girlfriend would say “okay, now you have to wait outside.”

Ahhhhhh…. Young, confused, and stumbling love.

Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 8:26 pm But with gas prices being what they are, if I need just one thing, it only has to cost less than the gas to drive somewhere else to get it.

Gas prices are already going back down, but of course, Illinois is like California; whatever we are paying here, double it, and that is the lowest price in Illinois.

p.falk wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 12:21 am It’s so weird to think… but back when I was in high school and dating my girlfriend, I used to stand by her till while she was working. I’m stunned, in retrospect, that the store manager even allowed me to do that.

Whenever she would greet a customer and they would ignore it, this ol White Knight had to defend her honor by saying something like, “pardon me, you’re standing closer to her than I am, and I heard her greet you. It’s not hard to greet her back.”

To which my girlfriend would say “okay, now you have to wait outside.”

Ahhhhhh…. Young, confused, and stumbling love.

And of course, I'm sure that by now you understand that you can't respond to every greeting; sometimes, the best you can do is just politely nod to acknowledge it, if even that. When you get older, everything becomes routine and low energy, one day you start to feel tired, and that is the way you will feel for the rest of your life.

Doom wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 4:22 am Gas prices are already going back down, but of course, Illinois is like California; whatever we are paying here, double it, and that is the lowest price in Illinois.

* The People's Republic of Illinois

Doom wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 4:25 am

p.falk wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 12:21 am It’s so weird to think… but back when I was in high school and dating my girlfriend, I used to stand by her till while she was working. I’m stunned, in retrospect, that the store manager even allowed me to do that.

Whenever she would greet a customer and they would ignore it, this ol White Knight had to defend her honor by saying something like, “pardon me, you’re standing closer to her than I am, and I heard her greet you. It’s not hard to greet her back.”

To which my girlfriend would say “okay, now you have to wait outside.”

Ahhhhhh…. Young, confused, and stumbling love.

And of course, I'm sure that by now you understand that you can't respond to every greeting; sometimes, the best you can do is just politely nod to acknowledge it, if even that. When you get older, everything becomes routine and low energy, one day you start to feel tired, and that is the way you will feel for the rest of your life.

Can't say the same for me... I still have a decent amount of vim and vigor.

And, though I do temper it, still a degree of disdain for those who can't so much as respond a kind word for a kind word.

I've heard of Dollar General, but never knew what it was.
My town (suburb of NYC) has two food store chains that are popular in the NE, and another smaller chain that's just local to the NYC area. People in the area can be helpful, but they're not overly friendly. Most are in a personal bubble.

p.falk wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 7:26 am

And, though I do temper it, still a degree of disdain for those who can't so much as respond a kind word for a kind word.

When it is my 15th interaction of the day and I just want to get the hell out and go home, a polite grunt is all you're gonna get from me.

Doom wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 3:53 pm

p.falk wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 7:26 am

And, though I do temper it, still a degree of disdain for those who can't so much as respond a kind word for a kind word.

When it is my 15th interaction of the day and I just want to get the hell out and go home, a polite grunt is all you're gonna get from me.

I’ll take a polite grunt.


One morning at gym I was getting ready to leave and an older, large fella went walking past me.

He was getting ready to change in a locker near mine. I said, “have a good one”…

And he said in a very annoyed manner, with somewhat labored breathing “I have emphysema and it’s hard to talk after a workout!”.

I replied with, “that sounded harder to say that ‘you too’”.

anawim wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 11:48 am People in the area can be helpful, but they're not overly friendly. Most are in a personal bubble.

Well, it IS New York, after all.

If you go to an empty field in Pennsylvania and say "Dollar General" 3 times, one will appear.

Riverboat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 1:07 pm Well, it IS New York, after all.

There was an editorial in one of the NY newspapers that was written by a journalist who had grown up in the mid-west, and after several years of living and working in Manhattan, he said that NY'ers have the uncanny ability of simultaneously noticing everything that's going on around them, and at the same time, looking like they don't notice anything around them. I thought, 'you know, he's right'. I can look like I'm not paying attention, while seeing and noticing everything.

peregrinator wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 3:17 pm If you go to an empty field in Pennsylvania and say "Dollar General" 3 times, one will appear.

I'll try this in an empty field in Wisconsin and get back to you.

peregrinator wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 3:17 pm If you go to an empty field in Pennsylvania and say "Dollar General" 3 times, one will appear.

That genius, that what it is.

Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 6:45 am

Doom wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 4:22 am Gas prices are already going back down, but of course, Illinois is like California; whatever we are paying here, double it, and that is the lowest price in Illinois.

* The People's Republic of Illinois

New Mexico just passed a universal free child care bill. Only the lack of providers and money and regulation and inspectors will slow down its implementation. We will hire hundreds of State and local employees to administer the program; they will be appropriately DEIed. I anticipate signs appearing on various house and apartment doors -- "Sunshine Childe Khare". Next to the Leaning Center and Joe's Hospice signs.