Honor, Quality, and Service are three words if applied to business would equal Reputation.  Not too far back in our history, this was the cornerstone for a successful business.  Lacking in any one or combination of these qualities had a direct impact on your business standing in the community.  Respect in the community trumped everything else.

I am blessed with two beautiful daughters who are married to wonderful husbands.  They intern have blessed me with four grandchildren which are my pride and joy.  The young ones always want me to tell them stories about my life growing up as a child.  They kid me about the lack of modern conveniences and gadgets of my childhood and they can’t believe how I survived without them like IPhones, texting, video games, Super Malls, ATMs, Credit Cards, and so on.

One day I decided to tell them how bad off we were.  I guess by modern standards we were lower middle income to poor.  My Father was the single breadwinner, and a teacher, and my Mom was a homemaker but I like to refer to her as the Coordinating General of the family. 

Now Mom loved her soap operas and my Father, Sister, and I knew our daily existence around the house revolved around this fact.  “The Edge of Night” and the “Secret Storm” were two of her favorites. These facts I did not relay to the kids, they just wouldn’t get it.

I did make the Grandchildren aware we had a “private line” phone in our house; forget about explaining a “party line” it would get mixed up in translation with present implications.  As a side note, our phone number consisted of only three single-digit numbers and was quite simple to remember.  I did not tell them this; I didn’t want to show off.  And by the way, if I forgot a number I just dial “O” for information and some nice lady would be happy to help me, no extra charge. 

Ahh, service is a fleeting dying vice.

Well, this phone was my Moms tool of her trade.  Her world revolved around this convenience.  She called our grocer with her order.  They would fill it and have it delivered to our home. No extra charge. They even billed Mom which she paid every two weeks.  She had the same routine as the butcher. I can hear her now instructing him as to the various cuts of meat and poultry she was planning to serve for this week.  The dairy products were delivered to the house by the local dairy which included orange juice and on special occasions even chocolate milk. 

During the summer months, there was a bakery truck that came by and we went aboard to make our selection. The aroma of fresh baked goods was delightful.

Dinner was promptly served at 5:30.  All were required to be present.  We were all willing participants as Mom was a great cook.

It was sad to see the expressions on the faces of my offspring when I informed them we did not have cell phones or texting to communicate with the world at the table.  All we had was each other for conversation and that has made all the difference. 

They could not believe we drank water from the taps in our house, even the outside taps on a hot summer day.  I think this almost brought them to tears.  They felt so sad for me that I was denied the opportunity to shlep home gallon jugs of water from the supermarket.

When my Dad took his car to be fueled at the service station (yes it was called a “Service” Station for a reason) he did not fuel the car himself, an attendant did it for him. In the course of the process, another would check the air in the tires while the first attendant would scurry around the car washing the windshield, side mirrors, headlights, and brake lights.

Ahh the misery of it all, the unbearable human suffering we were put through during this time of my life.

So here is the bottom line.  We had no franchise stores in our town.  They were all small privately owned by members of our community.  And yes we did not have the large variety offered today by big box stores.  Frankly, it was not something I missed as a child.  What we did have was community.  Each shopkeeper took an interest in his customer because in many cases they were friends.  Quality and service were not just words they were deeds.  Profit was expected in the course of doing business but it was prefaced and understood to be “fair” profit.  Reputation, on the other hand, was not negotiable it was expected to be high and offered willingly and it was.