Father and Son Memories, Grocery Shopping, Schwegmann's Stores, Family, Love, Caregiving
Makin Groceries With Daddy
As a child growing up in New Orleans in the 60’s, I had my own “Wal-Mart” experiences long before Sam Walton started his chain, at least in the South. For those of you like my parents who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina, I have had much more time recently to reminisce about my formative days in the Big Easy, as mom and dad have been with us in the Red Stick since right before the storm. Unfortunately, Mom died in June 2006 and Dad died in October 2006).
Every Saturday, my daddy would give mom a break from her expected role, and he’d go out to the Airline Hwy/Labarre Rd. Schwegmann’s Supermarket to “make groceries,” as us Y’at’s (New Orleans natives) called the weekly shopping ritual. Occasionally, I would go along with dad and “Tita” (a short Spanish version of Abuelita), my grandmother on dad’s side, who lived in the basement apartment of our Uptown home.
These Schwegmann’s stores were the first Giant Supermarkets in New Orleans that had “one-stop” shopping and touted having “enough room for two grocery carts to make it through the isle!” You could take care of your groceries, get your haircut, have your shoes repaired, buy jewelry, make a bank deposit (long before ATMs) and many other tasks under one roof.
My favorite job in helping dad on these outings was getting the McKenzie’s Glazed Donuts (precursors to and better than Krispy Crème’s!), as they had a store on the premises; another choice treat there was their Pride Coffee Cakes!
John Schwegmann was an even better entrepreneur than Sam Walton. He knew that if you stopped by his in-store deli to get some of his famous gravy dripping roast beef poboys, as well as drink the draft beer while shopping, you would probably be more inclined to buy more groceries – the casinos have certainly learned this from him!
He was one of the first grocers in that area to offer deep discounts, due to his volume purchasing. I also still recall the many coupons that my mother would faithfully cut out for him to use in order to even save more money. And my grandmother taught me at the store the art of finding all those “sample displays,” where you could try all kinds of food for free! Chalk up another idea stolen that we now find at Sam’s!
But one of the most important lessons I learned from my dad on these shopping excursions was tipping those who helped us in any way. He always impressed upon me to give due to those folks who helped you. Later, in my high school years, when I worked part-time at a Piggly Wiggly on St. Charles Ave. and Chrokee St, I certainly appreciated getting tipped likewise for taking groceries out to a shopper’s car or making a home delivery using those old fashioned bikes.
Like dad told me, you can learn Customer Service 101 by working at a grocery store that you can apply to all areas of your life. No matter how high falutant they may try to make it (Total Quality Management, Continuous Quality Improvement, etc.), it’s all about listening to God and helping people. Another critical virtue about being a parent that I learned from dad was fairness – if he treated me to some kind of goodie on these outings, he would be sure to do something similar later that day for my brother and sister.
Nowadays, I find myself walking in dad’s footsteps by “makin groceries” for our family the way he did. Occasionally, my children may join me to continue this tradition. While one-stop shopping may even be more convenient currently with 24 hr operations, it will never be the same as like the old Schwegmann’s days.
Back in those days, you could also see the price of each item marked, as I can recall stocking them after using those ink machines you depressed the products with; there were no “bar codes” around then other than the ones that cited you had to be 18 years of age or older to get into places like Bruno’s, Fat Harry’s or joints located in Fat City!
Recently, due to his needing 24 hr care assistance, we had to place dad in a nursing home. Having worked for many years as a clinical social worker in the hospital and other healthcare settings, it still was very difficult putting into practice what I’d long preached to my patients and their families.
Thanks, dad, for all that you taught me and how to apply those “makin groceries” experiences to everyday life. And with March being dedicated as Social Work Month, I can truly say that you taught me great communication skills through all the encounters we would experience out shopping and through other venues – the most important, of course, and the hardest to implement: listening.
Finally, as I know you have had to deal with this Prodigal Son of yours at times, may I attentively recall the prayer from Sirach (Ecclesiasticus): My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fails, be considerate with him; revile him not in the fullness of your strength. For kindness to a father will not be forgotten; it will serve as a sin offering – it will take lasting root (Sir. 3: 12 -14).
Keith John Paul Horcasitas, LCSW, MHA, khorcasitas.yahoo.com
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Makin Groceries With Daddy
