I think Dr. Martin Luther King uttered those words. My use of these stirring words are trivial to say the least when you hear what I have been freed from.

It all fell into place this 5th day of May 2013. Zee and I traveled to Paso Robles today to meet a new intern from France. Theo arrived by bus from San Francisco and will be riding some of our young horses for the next several months. As we entered town on Spring Street I thought we should be passing a vacant grocery store, but much to my surprise there was a dream being brought to reality. Some fellow was going to put his sweat and his riches on the line to prove that he had a better way to sell groceries than the last guy who closed up shop. That’s what I like about capitalism, when for whatever reason somebody throws in the towel there’s always someone willing to pick up the towel and reinvent it. We just have to be careful that government which is usually a day late and a dollar short doesn’t enact some law or regulation that kills a new idea before it’s able to walk. A new sign by the edge of Spring Street announces a grand opening will take place on June 12 for Smart and Final grocery stores who I hope has invented a better mouse trap to sell groceries.

But, I’m on my way to Walmart. Upon entering this wall to wall stuff with some rubies among the rubble, I zigged and zagged through this obstacle course to the pet food section. I found myself standing there disappointed that the shelf space for Old Roy’s High Performance Dog Food was empty. How am I going to once again tell my dogs Bob, Tilly, Spider and Bear that Walmart’s inability to keep their shelves stocked, will force them to dine on brand X? YUCK. In fact, I was told by a person who stocked the dog food section that they would no longer carry their very own brand of high performance in a bag.

Smart and Final here I come! Here’s to hoping that you have carts with round wheels that will travel aisles unfettered with stuff and signs to direct me to a dog food that Bob and company will love. For tee shirts and shorts that I need on occasion I think I will give Target a try. Free, Free at Last.

See Ya,

Jack

P.S. Update: it’s August 24, 2016. Smart and Final did indeed invent a better mouse trap as this now 3 year-old store has been a success since it opened for business where you can fill the back seat of your car with a handful goodies or a truck load of canned spinach to last a life time. But, I still have to go to Big Wally to buy their high performance dog food as Bob and company said they would strike if I tried to pawn off some other brand on them. So every couple of weeks you will find me with a shopping cart that is sure to have at least 1 square wheel trudging through Wally’s obstacle course knowing full well that they only thing keeping this mega store alive is their high performance dog food.