It used to be, you'd ask for help at a department or specialty store and the workers there knew where to find what you're looking for and take you to the item. Not so much anymore. Today at Target I asked three people for help and got blank stares then "I don't think so" for an answer. I found the items on my own. I looked for the "deer in the headlights" looking employees to advise them on where the items were but they were nowhere to be found.
This reminded me of a recent conversation with a co-worker. In casual conversation he told me he worked at Wright's Sports 30 years ago. Wright's Sports! That was a great store!
Back when San Antonio was a big little town of just under 500,000 people, there were only a few true sporting good stores here. There was Wright's sports which had three locations, American Sports, Paternick's and Gibson's. Gibson's was where you'd go for hunting, fishing, and camping gear. Wright's, American, and Paternick's were specialty stores where you'd find sport specific gear like Soccer, Baseball, basketball, volleyball, etc. and also running shoes, shorts, shirts. Wright's, American, and Paternick's outfitted many school and local league teams with state of the art (for the day) equipment and uniforms. As little league baseball players we wore real wool button down shirts and wool pants with belts. Just like the big leaguers of the day!
I remember walking into Wright's sports for the first time with my big brother. I was 12 years old and we were there to purchase my first REAL pair of Puma leather soccer shoes. We were greeted at the door by a man sporting a pencil thin mustache, wearing black slacks, a white shirt, and a tie! He had a measuring tape over his shoulders. This man took me over to the shoe department and measured my foot with one of those fancy foot measuring devices. When he brought out the shoes he laced them up, making sure there were no twists or bends in them, and using a shoe horn put them on my feet and had me walk around. He never left our side and we got the utmost in customer service. My brother bought those 25.00 shoes for me back in 1970 and I still have them. They are a reminder of my generous big brother and a simpler time when customers were valued.
There are still a few local sports stores that give good customer service like Roger Soler sports and Good sports. But not like the old days. And these stores' inventory is not as varied as Wright's, etal. But The times have changed and are ever changing.
On a better note, I had a very nice 11.5 mile run this morning. My good friend Liza joined me for the first 3.5 loop, she's coming back from an injury. Liza helped a Turtle cross the trail, making sure a mountain biker didn't come barreling down the trail and run over it. I told her to hold it at her side. The last time I picked up a turtle to help it across the street it peed! It missed me though. On my run I saw a rabbit 28 times! Not the same rabbit. Although Liza said it was.
Our conversation centered mostly about nutrition and I told her about a great quote I heard recently by Dr. Todd Schlapfer ND. I have gotten into heated discussions with family members on this subject. Here it is;
"Food can be a bad drug or a medicinal agent. You can either predispose yourself to the things you're inherited to, or alleviate or avoid those predispositions from occurring by what you do with food. Food, you gotta do it. But HOW are you gonna do it?"
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