Friday, October 12, 2007

Flashback Friday - #5 - Downtown

Aah. Greater downtown metropolitan New Middletown, Indiana - also known as Harpool's General Store. This is right across the street from the only other convenience store in the town; Kigers. There used to be two gas pumps in front of this store. When I was around 10, my mom had asked me to go to Kiger's and get a gallon of milk. She gave me the $1.50 that it would cost and send me on my way. I ran down the country road to the store and bought the milk. As I was leaving the store, I ran down the stairs swinging the purchase. It slipped out of my grasp and the milk leapt into the air, landing right next to the gas pumps, shattering the plastic container and spraying milk everywhere. I tried to go back in and get another gallon from Mrs. Harpool; citing that the jug must have been defective, but she didn't believe me. I ended up going home, getting more money from my mom, returning to Harpool's and buying the replacement milk, then working to earn the money back to pay my mom. Lesson learned: don't run and fling around gallons of milk! I guess I'm lucky I wasn't a child a decade or two earlier when the milk came in glass jars (of course, that might have meant that milk would be delivered and this unfortunate situation may have been totally avoided!)


3 comments:

lv2knit said...

I agree that having someone else drive is a little slice of heaven! I did not get as much knitting done as I expected, but I did have a lot of fun!! Thanks for reading and commenting!

Josiane said...

Funny how vividly we remember some stories! I guess the part where you had to work to earn the money back explains (at least partly) why you remember this one so well!

Anonymous said...

Ah, yes. Running to the store. I remember buying bread for ninteen cents a loaf at the Hi Lo Mart. (now a parking lot for Superstore. Less cluttered but not as interesting.) This was when the breadman still visited, but must have happened after extra peanut butter and honey sandwiches.
We had regular visits from the breadman, the milkman (had a special "milk chute" at the back door, but it went into disuse after quart bottles were replaced by bigger containers.), and the laundry man (Dad's shirts- he must have rented them) who was my favourite- my only source of cardboard for crafts, but that's another whole story. It must have been as much as 10 (or 40) years ago...