ISSUE 21 EDITORIAL

I have a good friend who, from time to time, will phone me and say Two words: Flaming Amy’s. I know what this means. This is like a junkie calling you saying; Crack Run. He says if they opened one downtown he’d eat there all the time, no need for a grocery store visit. I believe him. He’ll order a burrito at the restaurant and one to go. In an era of constant homogeny it’s good to have a place to go and feel comfortable, in your head and in your stomach.
There are numerous businesses in which you feel that you’re on an assembly line. Your items are scanned and the cashier, salesperson, whomever, barely says a word. The whole situation is impersonal, like a scene in THX 1138 or any futuristic, cold view of society. Worse, you can be made to feel unwelcome in the establishment.
Here are a few examples, or moments, that happened recently, easing my belief the whole world has been malled into apathy and homogeny. The first is simple. My girlfriend and I are passing a Dunkin Donuts and I have a sugar fix to sooth. I’m a Krispy Kreme guy myself but we’re right there. We get our half dozen and are about to leave when she says she can’t wait to eat one before getting home. So I look at the cashier and ask for a donut hole, can she have one to hold her till we get home? The cashier doesn’t give me a line, some company dialogue. She’s cool, smiles, and asks what kind?
Second, I’m putting out mags all over the city one day and end up on Oleander. Hunger hits like a Balboa punch. I’ve seen Firehouse Subs for weeks now, one of many businesses in a building that used to be the location for the old Krispy Kreme. I used to go there late to get doughnuts when there was a large round table filled with old guys drinking coffee and talking about the world. I wonder where they are now, where do they sit and discuss things. Hopefully not the Internet.
So I go in. I order, feeling like I’m in a strange place, nostalgic. Everyone is nice, talking and friendly, doesn’t sound phony. I sit down to eat, a man and woman sit across from me reading over job applications. They don’t notice me for a few moments and I hear them discussing possible hires, concerned with driving records. I’m overhearing this and thinking I’ll hear something bad. We’ve all worked somewhere and applications get ridiculed for something. All is hear is them addressing important concerns.
An employee comes into work and the two owner/managers talk as if he were their son, discussing a game he played in. I was honestly taken with this behavior. To be certain I finally asked if this was their place. They recently opened and asked what sandwich I ordered. We talked briefly and it wasn’t pleasantries. I came back two days later to eat again and the woman manager recognized me and asked if I wanted the Italian sandwich again. Yes. It was a cool Sunday afternoon and I ate at a silver table out back. I tried to ignore the mall that was taking up much of the view.
Last, I rent DVD’s sometimes. It comes with the territory and it’s a winter thing, renting movies. You go in stores and much of the time you are up-selled and trafficked right out the door. Two guys who work at the video store I go to have done what is sometimes rare, befriend their customers. They are usually there when I go in. It’s simple really, being a human being, but we forget sometimes. Chad and John are two of these people, those who work but have the ability to be personable and make you feel like you’re not just a customer. It makes the business of doing business a lot more comfortable in a world becoming more detached. It’s not just about keeping customers, I see it as being decent to one another, getting along, sharing a positive experience with people versus animosity.
I commend these people on the ability to work and maintain civility in a manner that the divide fades between you and the person behind the cash register, for making it feel a little more small town and friendly. There are many other places and instances like this in Wilmington but I felt compelled to point these out.
So, on that thought I will prepare to make my own Crack Run, for one of my favorites, Trolley Stop, which recently opened a new store near my house. Now if there was a beach down the street I’d never travel further than a few miles from my home.

- Brian Tucker