Dog On A Root

- jim Young      “There’s more to business than just business” - The Young Family General Store motto. Recently I used a self check-out for the first time. It was not by choice as the only till that accomodated a cashier was closed. My wife and I were standing in line at Value Village in North Bay, watching other customers at the self check-outs struggling to check themselves out.  And we waited as they finally made their purchases, slowly advancing the line one customer at a time. In addition to the one full-serve check-out that was closed, there were 6 self check-outs available of which only 3 were open. Yes they even had those numbers that light up on the poles at each self check-out to indicate which ones were open and which ones were closed. I couldn’t help but wonder “If they are self check-outs anyway, why wouldn’t they have them ALL open ALL of the time?” With a company that is so calloused they would lay off employees to save a few bucks by opening...

 

You’d think Hallowe’en would be over by now based on how long Hallowe’en candies have been available in stores. You would also think we would already have sufficient Hallowe’en candies to pass out to the trick or treaters that will be soon knocking on our door. I mean we’ve been buying more each week since they arrived in the stores late last summer. But somehow, most of them have disappeared.  So, what do you do to prepare for Hallowe’en when all the goodies have vanished? Do you want to give the ghosties and goblins that will be coming around something delicious or something healthy? Some years, we will throw an apple into their pillow sheets along with some traditional treats of sugar filled delights just to help keep their teeth clean. But why not give them both in one? Who’s not going to love getting an apple covered in caramel or taffy? Back in the day when I was young, there was one house in the neighbourhood that was known for handing out taffy apples. But you had to get th...