I had to go out yesterday, so I have several blog entries just from the extra activity (one of those will probably not be on how a simple trip to town provides pages of blog fodder and how this reflects on my general reclusivity–but it could be).
So, this post is about DH, gas stations and not being from here, and how that changes your activity patterns and some observations from all that about personal behavior.
We got gas this morning. There are 2 gas stations here in my small town, and they are directly across the street from each other. One is a Go-Gas, and it has been here forever, or at least 20 years. It sits in front of the Piggly-Wiggly which has also been here since Hector was a pup, in one incarnation or another. Gas there was 2.07 this morning. The second station is a Citgo, and it’s much newer, and on the side of the street where all the “new stuff” is, but also in front of the other old shopping strip. Gas there was 2.09.
Guess where my DH went? Yep, straight to the Citgo, even though we were right beside Go-Gas as we left the bank. He’s not from here, see. As I looked at the clientele at both stations, I realized that really was a make or break point of station selection. And grocery store selection. And even fast food selection. Folks who were here when this town was an unknown, they buy gas from Go-Gas, groceries from Piggly Wiggly, and fast food from either Shirley’s or McDonalds. Transplants shop at Citgo, Food Lion, Bojangles and Hardees. This division applies even to new businesses that pop up on the old side. If you shop old side, you shop old side.
Case in point: Mama and I are both long term residents. We got chicken the other day for lunch. We got KFC even though we both prefer Bojangles. KFC is a relatively new business (less than 10 years), but it’s on the old side of the street. Bojangles is on the new. And neither of us even thought of Bojangles. It’s just not there in our mental view of town.
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Interesting…
In my old hometown, I went to the ancient gas station in town a lot. A few cents more, but they provided full service and a smile.
“Bless his heart.”
Interesting observation. I’ll probably do the same thing when I go back home…LOL
Wow. That’s a pretty neat look into the true lives of southern vs not so southern 😀
With gas finally down to about $2.65 a gallon in some places, I now go wherever it’s cheapest. But I remember that the glitzy new donut shop couldn’t get any customers in my little old hometown & had to pack up and leave. I do the bulk of my grocery shopping these days in a little family-owned local chain, only going to the big national chain for stuff I HAVE to have that the local folks don’t carry. It’s just the right thing to do. ;0)
Oh can I relate! My little hometown of 7,000 people is now a suburb of 17,000 people. Over Christmas we got gas at the Sip ‘n Dip gas station. Its really a Marathon but it is where the old Sip ‘n Dip drive-in was located. If you didn’t grow up there, you wouldn’t have a clue which station we were at.
I can relate also, but as the person who is “not from here.” I’m new to our Kentucky home, having lived here only 15 years. 😉