More items of yore.

December 5, 1986. (Nashville)

Today gave me a headache, and that's rare, so I thought I would write about it. The Foreign Service Exam in the morning didn't help, to start off. After it was over I had a daydream about being Secretary of State and personally ordering an extra half-hour for the "English Expression" section of the test.

After the test I went shopping. Not exactly. I wandered from store to store, marveling over the variety and abundance of goods, without actually buying much. Window shopping, without the windows.

First I went to Famous State Sales, because I was curious to see the inside, esp. since the day Rod W. came to work with a microwave he bought there. It was like a Sears appliance store in a Quonset hut.

Next, a crowded Sam's Wholesale Club. I can't be a club member, since I don't work for the right people. But security was a wee bit lax this Saturday in December, and I snuck in without a membership card. Steph inspired me to visit. She'd been there with her member friend, and bought a year's supply of Cool-Pops (Kool-Popz?). It was worth the effort, just to see boxes and crates from floor to ceiling. I saw a cereal box big enough to bury a dog in.

I couldn't quit while I was ahead -- or had no headache -- and went to Rivergate Mall after that. More like Tailgate Mall today, endless tailgates and bumpers and hoods and glass and chrome streaming -- trickling -- grinding through narrow -- cramped -- pygmy streets. The traffic engineers who designed the place were Moe, Larry & Curly.