Penny Commerce

Ella will remember the Ice Cream Man.  We never had one, because I grew up on the edge of the hood, in the 70s, where a fella with iced goodies and a pile of money might get shanked.  We did have a little convenience store up the street called Park-It-Market and someone tried to rob it once but the owner was a black belt and he beat the crap out of the robber and held him until the police came and nobody ever tried it again.  The place is still there, though I don't know if John still owns it.  In grade school, I used to get $1.00 every day for an .85cent lunch.  I'd save the other .15cents ever day and on Friday I'd take my .75cents up to Park-it Market and pour over the candy.  I could afford two .35cents candy bars or one candy bar and six smaller candies.  A Peppermint Patty was always in there, and the smaller stuff was crap like Bottle Caps, Laffy Taffy, and Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum.   But on very rare occasions, I'd buy just one whole bag of circus peanuts using up all the money.  I never could save up two weeks at a time.

Childhood Memory