"Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going, boys, and they ain't coming back to your hometown"
( from "My Hometown" Bruce Springsteen)
During Ramadan we make some sort of attempt to encourage more introspection as a family and do try to avoid watching movies or T.V. Of course, there is very little time to do anything other than work, break our fast, run to prayer etc.
This meant that I hadn't noticed that our local movie rental place, "Premium Rentals", had gone out of business until fairly recently. We went to rent a DVD and saw the all too common words:
STORE CLOSING DOWN SALE
painted all over the windows in large white capital letters. Nowadays, there are no longer any corner shops selling candy, no fishmongers- very few bakeries. So these are the places where we become "regulars". The cruel Chicago winters also mean many an evening is spent trying to find a PG13 DVD that we are not embarassed to bring into the home. Faisal is also a movie buff so, all in all- we have spent a lot of time in "Premium Rentals".
The words "recession" and "economic crisis" can lose their sting when you hear them every night on CNN. But finding out that Dave Bartlett, the manager at "Premium" was going to be unemployed after 10 years at this establishment was awful. The day we went, there were no other employees left, only Dave. He told us that he had been scrambling around looking for a job. He was matter of fact about it:
"Well, don't worry, it's not just me, it's everywhere.
You know, Netflix, free movie downloads, people aren't coming here as much as they used to. Plus everyone's feeling the punch"
That is the unfortunate truth. In some parts of town, every other house is boarded up and there are far too many young men on street corners, wishing they had less time on their hands. It all makes you thank God even more for his mercy on us. We, the priveleged, are all involved in various service projects but do we really understand what many are going through currently in this economic crisis. People not knowing how they will make that mortgage payment, others having their gas or heat dis-connected, no presents at Christmas, no milk for the cereal.
The lines at the top of this entry are from "My Hometown." from my favorite urban poet, Bruce Springsteen. His songs describe yesterday's harsh truths- poverty, despair, living modestly, thinking frugally. These have all come to the forefront again. Recently, I was in the periodicals section at the local library leafing through past issues of Writer's Digest . I was engrossed in an article about "beefing up your blog" when I spied the "Boss" on the cover of a magazine. I reached for it and let out a chuckle. He was gracing the cover of AARP magazine!
It didn't seem that long ago that he was on the cover of Rolling Stone and there he was today, still rocking away, but this time amongst the ads for SOS phones and World War Two souvenirs. The article spoke of how his words are still relevant today. (I understand I have now alienated anyone over the age of 25 who may have made it past the first paragraph.). I became engrossed in the article, pondering on how Springsteen had quietly campaigned extensively for Obama in the last election-was still sticking up for the common man. Suddenly two of my children burst in to tell me that they would be engaging in a video game tournament in one of the rooms. They caught me red-handed reading the retirement magazine. They were taken aback and frankly concerned.
"Mom, you ARE getting old"
I felt like a guilty schoolboy being caught reading Playboy.
"Er, I like the articles" I responded sheepishly.
Indeed there was an excellent one about how we thought that modernity and technology and "having it all" would bring us happiness but that we are not prepared for the current economic situation. But those who lived through the second world war have been able to use those coping skills in today's crisis.
I could certainly identify with the former concept. When my boys were younger, I used to delight in taking them to the toy store and showering them with presents on Eid. I noticed after a while that if you give your children gifts too often they become meaningless.
If you have everything, then maybe you have nothing.
I also used to give out small Eid presents to my Sunday school students. They were inexpensive little tokens but I did try to find things I thought they would appreciate. One day I over-heard a couple of fourth grade girls open their present, whining: "ANOTHER journal? I have so many journals."
At that moment, I realized that we have done our children a dis-service with this over-giving. It is really not their fault. Man is not selfish naturally. How can they know the value of something when they have always had everything in this disposable narcisstic culture we have created for ourselves.
Flashback
There was a green grocer on the other side of Plumstead Common Road. (By the way, a green grocer is not a merchant who is concerned about the ozone. ) It used to mean "seller of fruits and vegetables." My mother used to send my brother out to buy items from there every other week. I would accompany him because my mum would always reply:
"Atcha" ( OK) to our pleas of: " Can we keep the change?"
That meant a bar of chocolate was soon to be ours- Maltesers were our favorite. I would convince my brother to take the long way home so we could stop off at the holy of holies- our local toy shop.
It had a large purple metal sign on the brick wall beneath the store front which read "J.W. Baker, Purveyor of Toys." There we were the two of us, with our noses pressed up against the glass, looking at the latest wares Mr Baker had to offer. We were like Charlie outside Mr Wonka's chocolate factory.
One day I spied a doll in the corner of the window. It was partially hidden by a wooden train set. It was what was known as "Tiny Tears" doll. It could cry real tears, would drink "water for milk" which would then trickle out from a small crevice under a tiny cloth nappy. It was exactly £1.35 . A small fortune at that time. But I was determined to save up every last halfpenny of my allowance. I longed for that doll. My parents also offered a matching donation grant so I really needed to save up only half that tidy sum which took me a few months.
I still remember Mr Baker counting up all the ten pence pieces I had given him before putting them in the cash register. He asked if he should wrap up the box. As he reached for some dark brown paper and string, I almost fainted with anticipation.
"No, thank you" I managed to gasp out.
My brother handed me the box and we ran all the way home. For the first time in my life, I beat him in a race.
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going, boys, and they ain't coming back to your hometown"
( from "My Hometown" Bruce Springsteen)
During Ramadan we make some sort of attempt to encourage more introspection as a family and do try to avoid watching movies or T.V. Of course, there is very little time to do anything other than work, break our fast, run to prayer etc.
This meant that I hadn't noticed that our local movie rental place, "Premium Rentals", had gone out of business until fairly recently. We went to rent a DVD and saw the all too common words:
STORE CLOSING DOWN SALE
painted all over the windows in large white capital letters. Nowadays, there are no longer any corner shops selling candy, no fishmongers- very few bakeries. So these are the places where we become "regulars". The cruel Chicago winters also mean many an evening is spent trying to find a PG13 DVD that we are not embarassed to bring into the home. Faisal is also a movie buff so, all in all- we have spent a lot of time in "Premium Rentals".
The words "recession" and "economic crisis" can lose their sting when you hear them every night on CNN. But finding out that Dave Bartlett, the manager at "Premium" was going to be unemployed after 10 years at this establishment was awful. The day we went, there were no other employees left, only Dave. He told us that he had been scrambling around looking for a job. He was matter of fact about it:
"Well, don't worry, it's not just me, it's everywhere.
You know, Netflix, free movie downloads, people aren't coming here as much as they used to. Plus everyone's feeling the punch"
That is the unfortunate truth. In some parts of town, every other house is boarded up and there are far too many young men on street corners, wishing they had less time on their hands. It all makes you thank God even more for his mercy on us. We, the priveleged, are all involved in various service projects but do we really understand what many are going through currently in this economic crisis. People not knowing how they will make that mortgage payment, others having their gas or heat dis-connected, no presents at Christmas, no milk for the cereal.
The lines at the top of this entry are from "My Hometown." from my favorite urban poet, Bruce Springsteen. His songs describe yesterday's harsh truths- poverty, despair, living modestly, thinking frugally. These have all come to the forefront again. Recently, I was in the periodicals section at the local library leafing through past issues of Writer's Digest . I was engrossed in an article about "beefing up your blog" when I spied the "Boss" on the cover of a magazine. I reached for it and let out a chuckle. He was gracing the cover of AARP magazine!
It didn't seem that long ago that he was on the cover of Rolling Stone and there he was today, still rocking away, but this time amongst the ads for SOS phones and World War Two souvenirs. The article spoke of how his words are still relevant today. (I understand I have now alienated anyone over the age of 25 who may have made it past the first paragraph.). I became engrossed in the article, pondering on how Springsteen had quietly campaigned extensively for Obama in the last election-was still sticking up for the common man. Suddenly two of my children burst in to tell me that they would be engaging in a video game tournament in one of the rooms. They caught me red-handed reading the retirement magazine. They were taken aback and frankly concerned.
"Mom, you ARE getting old"
I felt like a guilty schoolboy being caught reading Playboy.
"Er, I like the articles" I responded sheepishly.
Indeed there was an excellent one about how we thought that modernity and technology and "having it all" would bring us happiness but that we are not prepared for the current economic situation. But those who lived through the second world war have been able to use those coping skills in today's crisis.
I could certainly identify with the former concept. When my boys were younger, I used to delight in taking them to the toy store and showering them with presents on Eid. I noticed after a while that if you give your children gifts too often they become meaningless.
If you have everything, then maybe you have nothing.
I also used to give out small Eid presents to my Sunday school students. They were inexpensive little tokens but I did try to find things I thought they would appreciate. One day I over-heard a couple of fourth grade girls open their present, whining: "ANOTHER journal? I have so many journals."
At that moment, I realized that we have done our children a dis-service with this over-giving. It is really not their fault. Man is not selfish naturally. How can they know the value of something when they have always had everything in this disposable narcisstic culture we have created for ourselves.
Flashback
There was a green grocer on the other side of Plumstead Common Road. (By the way, a green grocer is not a merchant who is concerned about the ozone. ) It used to mean "seller of fruits and vegetables." My mother used to send my brother out to buy items from there every other week. I would accompany him because my mum would always reply:
"Atcha" ( OK) to our pleas of: " Can we keep the change?"
That meant a bar of chocolate was soon to be ours- Maltesers were our favorite. I would convince my brother to take the long way home so we could stop off at the holy of holies- our local toy shop.
It had a large purple metal sign on the brick wall beneath the store front which read "J.W. Baker, Purveyor of Toys." There we were the two of us, with our noses pressed up against the glass, looking at the latest wares Mr Baker had to offer. We were like Charlie outside Mr Wonka's chocolate factory.
One day I spied a doll in the corner of the window. It was partially hidden by a wooden train set. It was what was known as "Tiny Tears" doll. It could cry real tears, would drink "water for milk" which would then trickle out from a small crevice under a tiny cloth nappy. It was exactly £1.35 . A small fortune at that time. But I was determined to save up every last halfpenny of my allowance. I longed for that doll. My parents also offered a matching donation grant so I really needed to save up only half that tidy sum which took me a few months.
I still remember Mr Baker counting up all the ten pence pieces I had given him before putting them in the cash register. He asked if he should wrap up the box. As he reached for some dark brown paper and string, I almost fainted with anticipation.
"No, thank you" I managed to gasp out.
My brother handed me the box and we ran all the way home. For the first time in my life, I beat him in a race.
I almost sympathize with my own children as they may not quite ever know that feeling of joy I got when the toy was finally mine.
But there ARE millions and millions of families who are going without, who are in serious financial difficulty. I mean those for whom this is a brand new experience. Those who may have comfortable lives but who now have homes in foreclosure or failed businesses- praying they don't get ill as health insurance has now become a luxury for them.
It was time to leave "Premium Rentals" What had been a thriving place, now held just a few stark shelves of un-sold videos and kettle popcorn at half price.
Even though it was just a video store, it held many memories for us. I recall arguing with the boys about the precise definition of a family movie and the relief when we could finally agree on one. Perhaps Faisal's passion for film had begun here in the "Alternative Foreign Drama" section. I also remember Dave Bartlett asking Faisal if he was going to study film at college as he checked out movies that few could even pronounce.
On the way out, we paid for a couple of DVDS that they had marked down on clearance-favorites of mine- Amadeus and Quiz Show. I did feel slightly guilty though. Here was Dave, about to lose his livelihood and I simply had to own Ralph Fiennes on celluloid.
The "For Lease" sign has now gone up in front of the previous site of Premium Rentals. Soon it will be a Starbucks or a Best Buy or some other store. We will forget the people who worked there. We will forget everything about it.
People are learning how to cope with down-sized lives and are finding some peace in the simplicity. I have heard some saying they are spending more time with their families due to having to find more modest entertainment, cooking together, playing more board games together. This all sounds suspiciously like the life senior citizens like Springsteen sung about and old fogeys like me still remember.
So who is the boss? Let's not allow it be consumerism and materialism.
3 comments:
I almost hesitate to say this, but my AARP card came in the mail- a year early I must add! I do remember Tiny Tears, I have one in the attic! On a more serious note; our neighbors have both lost their jobs. We were so concerned when we noticed that they had not put up Christmas lights this year, so my husband went over to ask if they are alright. It is a sad reality, but maybe simplifying our lives is a good thing.
So glad you checked on your neighbors, that's kind of what it's all about-how poignant that they had no Christmas lights this year.
As for the AARP card coming one year early- preposterous! these things should not arrive even a day early!
I like AARP! They are cool!
This article really made me think about my next door neighbor, a union concrete layer who has been out of work since June. I haven't seen a car in the driveway since before Thanksgiving. I wonder if he will have to move to find work.
Thanks for making me be more in tune with my neighborhood.
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