Behind the Doors of the Grocery Store: INEVITABLE CHANGE Part 2

CHANGE —A Spark for Writers Seeking an Innovative Angle for Their stories.

Change can bring new life or dread to an unfolding plot, and it can affect characters in both positive and negative ways.

The grocery store setting can be such a catalyst, having experienced numerous changes throughout the 20^th century.

• 1930s-The rise of the all-in-one market. Excited shopper: The butcher, the baker, and the produce grower are all under one roof! Dejected business owner: My mom-and-pop shop can’t sustain itself any longer

• 1937-The shopping cart arrived. Empowered shopper: I can choose products myself. Perplexed proprietor: Where do I fit?

• 1950s-The “International Aisle” appeared. Inconvenience shopper: What are oriental noodles and refried beans? And what happened to my peanut butter and jelly? Controversial shopper: This looks like racial bias to me.

• 1960s-Trading Stamps went wild. Grumpy shopper: Why does my favorite store offer green stamps when I want blue chips? Smiling shopper: My little girl wants a doll I can get with green stamps.

• 1952-Bar code patented. Curious Shopper: What are these stickers with unique bars and numbers? Do I need to know? Do I even care?

• 1960s-In-Store pharmacy. Recovering shopper: The pharmacist helped my husband find the best cold medicine for me. Pharmacist: It’s great to offer another convenience for customers.

• 1972-The 24/7 grocery stores open. Tired shopper: I may have just put in a night’s work, but the quiet, uncrowded aisles are wonderful. Weary clerk: These overnight hours are hard on my body.

• 1974-Price scanners. Delighted cashier: I don’t have to punch register keys anymore. I just slide the bar code across the glass plate. Disgruntled customer: The cashier made good money for accuracy in punching keys, now a child could do their job.

As the decades marched forward, stores designated seasonal space for specialty wares to celebrate New Years, Super Bowl, Valentines Day, Easter and Spring, and Thanksgiving.

Halloween grew in popularity and now holds second place in holiday sales. Fall shopper: In addition to the baker’s pumpkin goodies, I can find decorative squash, greeting cards, paper goods, knickknacks, and sometimes costumes. Wide-eyed child: Mom, look at all the candy.

Then there’s Christmas…everywhere you look…arriving as early as October. Even the grocery store climbs on board the marketing sleigh. Beyond celebratory meals and dessert items, the Plan-ahead shopper can choose Christmas cards, themed paper goods, and wrapping paper. For the Last-minute shopper, ribboned boxes of holiday candies and goodies, stuffed animals, and small toys fill the shelves.

Oops-don’t forget the poinsettias.

For the creative writer, change at the grocery store, good or bad, can enhance a scene. Or, if those creative juices are unleashed, the writer could employ market changes to unfold plot or subplots or reveal characters.

So, what plots and profiles might one bring to life at the grocery store?

Plots and Subplots: A kidnapped child or gun-toting robbers; pilfered green stamps or shoplifters; manager’s first store or the struggling mom’s second job. Romance on aisle 10. Characters: Store owner/manager, security guards, delivery men, cranky or curious children, harried shoppers, overwhelmed clerks, student baggers, late night shelf stockers.

So, creative writers, why not explore how the CHANGES behind the door of the grocery store might help you craft an atypical, entertaining story?

Click here for part one, Behind the Doors of the Grocery Store: The Early American Era.

Jeannine Brummett lives in South Carolina with her husband of nineteen years, Don, who shares his three adult sons and three grandchildren with her. Reading is big on her list of things to do, but she also thrives on TV crime dramas, NBA basketball, and marvels at the critters and fowl life that live at the pond behind their house. She loves to sing praise songs, attend Bible Study, and help at a local food pantry