LOCAL NEWS

In this tiny upstate village of some 3000 we have recently had a new Price Chopper. Price Chopper is a grocery store. For years we have suffered from the lack of a good grocery store and almost everyone as a result has had to make a weekly trip twenty miles away to the small city of Oneonta to obtain groceries.

The Price Chopper is new, and although its aisles are somewhat narrow, it's quite a comfortable place. The only problem is that the checkout lines are almost always too long, and usually the checkout people make at least one mistake while ringing up your goods. If you pay close attention by the way this is true in almost any store you'll ever go into. The person behind the counter can almost invariably be found to have made a mistake.

So it's often ten minutes or more getting out of the store. And while I am nitpicking at the store and arguing that the price they rang up is not the same as the price that appeared out on the floor, I would like to note that the back of the store has already seen enormous cracks appear in the flooring tile. I asked the manager about this, and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's Delaware County."

What is this, an earthquake zone? No, it's just that the county land settles unevenly apparently.

It's funny to see all my neighbors going in and out of Price Chopper. I like to sit in the parking lot, and read the local papers, and watch the Episcopalian deacon going in, and the retired biology teacher, and the funny guy with a beard who does something with the county courthouse, etc. etc.

All going in, and all fairly satisfied. The Price Chopper, in spite of my carping comments, is fairly satisfying. Best part: the parking lot is big enough and new enough that it is possible to park without hitting a pot hole even in the dark, and one can get pretty close to one of the two doors so that one is in, even in the darkest winter months, without very much pain.