The Tombs

The store affectionately became known as "The Tombs"... why? I'm not really sure. I think BB came up with that one.

It was a place where before we all started working there, we knew very well. In the fall and winter, we'd be there in the parking lot playing football for a few hours. We carved out a corner of the lot and just played. Shopping carts were the endzones, we already had the lines and we played in an area that cars usually didn't park in anyway because it was too far to walk.

We didn't bother anyone and we put the carts back when we were done.

Didn't matter how cold it got in winter - I swear it was 20 below zero with the wind one night and we were all out there playing - we were a strange lot.

When we were done we'd go inside, buy some soda or something and head back to someone's house to warm up. What a blast.

It wasn't a big store by today's standards. I don't even know how many people actually worked there. We all started out running the old mechanical registers - you remember those? You actually had to use your freakin' BRAIN to calculate the tax yourself and make the change yourself - the register didn't tell you like it does today.

As time went on, we all moved to other areas in the store. I "did time" in grocery, produce, dairy, night-crew and others. BB went on to actually become a closing manager. LF and GF moved to different stores. Others came and went, but there was always that core - that main group of people that ultimately became THE DAWGS...