Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Fruit of My Sloan's







Have you ever heard the phrase, "the fruit of my loins?" Well, I am going to tell you about "the fruit of my Sloan's." I am referring to the fruit of Sloan's Supermarket, where as a teenager, I held my first job. This fruit was the most succulent fruit I have ever tasted; I have not tasted anything like it since.

Sit back, relax, close your eyes and take a trip with me down memory lane. Well, on second thought, sit back and relax, but please do not close your eyes because you will not be able to read this, which will make it difficult for you to follow me down memory lane. Just imagine walking down the extra-wide aisle of the produce section of Sloan's supermarket on the hottest summer day in July. The cool air coming from the chilled cases filled with some of the most colorful fruits you could ever set your eyes upon. As you are walking down the aisle, the tune of Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen" softly whispers in your ears from the local soft music radio station. Right now, right this very second, you are feeling great! You are cooling off with free air, Steely Dan is sounding better than ever, a plethora of delectable summer fruits are within your reach, and everything is right with the world. All of a sudden, a red devil and a white angel pop up on either of your shoulders. A verbal tug of war ensues. Of course, you are having this discussion in your lowest tone of voice; surely, you would not have other shoppers think you are insane! The devil tells you do do it, and you reply, "No, I'm not going to do it." The angel tells you not do to it, and you reply, "Thank you for keeping me on the right track." Step off of memory lane for just one second, and answer the question that you are asking yourself right now, which is "What is the devil telling me to do?" In response to your question, the devil is telling you to walk over to that chilled case of colorful, delectable fruits, perhaps the Bing cherries, look around to make sure no one is watching, and pop one into your mouth! Now, slowly ease back onto memory lane and let us continue on our journey. Time is passing; you are walking down the aisle slower and slower, fighting temptation. After countless minutes of fighting, you succumb. You walk over to the plump, deep-red, delicious-looking Bing cherries. You pick one up, pull off the stem, look around to make sure the coast is clear, and quickly pop it into your mouth. Wow! What a rush! Nothing has ever tasted so good! You pop a second, then a third, each one tasting sweeter than the one before. As you savor the sweet taste on your tongue, let us now leave memory lane.

Now that I have painted this picture for you, I am sure that you can imagine how difficult it must have been for me to work in a store that always had such delicious fruits on display. From the deep-red cherries to the bright green Granny Smith apples, everything seemed so irresistible. As we, the employees, walked around each evening to restock the shelves with the unwanted groceries of the day ("throw-backs"); it was very difficult for us to look at the fruits and not want to taste them all. Our Manager, George, always had to watch us closely, as he knew we all loved the fruits. Truthfully, George felt the same way as he had been caught a time or two himself in the produce section indulging. No one was exempt; customers themselves were often spotted tasting a cherry or a grape as they shopped. Some wanted to taste the fruits before they purchased them; others just enjoyed popping them into their mouths as they walked around the store shopping. George never said anything to the customers if he saw them tasting the fruits; he believed he had the best in town, and he was proud of it! The employees and customers agreed.

1 comment:

  1. Is Sloanes still there?

    Do you plan on going back to New York? I'm thinking about Queens or Brooklyn for July and not sure where I might like to live. Any suggestions?

    I like the play on words with the famous phrase about the fruits.

    ReplyDelete