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Mammoth Springs

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

I am a friend of Bill W.

I got this note from my good friend Bill this evening, a shopkeeper in the Bay Area.

When I was a little boy in northern Minnesota my dads' family was salt of the earth. My grandfather worked in the iron mines and grandma raised 6 kids in a home with no indoor plumbing. There was a pump in the kitchen to draw water for cooking and bathing. Hot water was heated on a wood stove.

       The out house was about 100 yards away. It was a 2 seater to accommodate emergencies. The toilet paper was a Sears Roebuck catalog. In the winter it was often 20 below zero (not wind chill but actual temperature displayed on thermometer.) You made sure you had to go before you committed. 

      Thankfully a lot has changed many times over since then. One of the changes I faced was competing against an internet which was given tax free status for years at the expense of brick and mortar stores. 

     So now there's no toilet paper.... all I can say is.... feel free to wipe your virtual ass with your virtual catalog. 

Bill W.

1 comment:

Blue Heron said...

Not too bitter, are we Bill?