Remember when 10 cents vs. 50 meant something?

The "Pylin" of East 7th Street was once such an institution, I suggested that if Prairie Pioneer Days were to be resurrected, it be called "Pylin Days." The idea would be to "pile in" to Morris! It's just an idle dream. Fewer and fewer people in this community remember the Pylin which was the classic drive-in. Consider the movie "American Graffiti." Those were "American Graffiti" times. The old public school, now gone, was along East 7th Street. Gradually this community abandoned this site for school purposes, rather a sea change. The place was once such a "hub" of community life, basketball games etc. Today it's a different kind of life there, but I can't help but think that East 7th has a rather run-down look. That can change. The sidewalk along there is lousy too. You could trip at night and fall right into the roadway. Look out, because maybe the South Dakota attorney general will be coming along. How many of you remember Matt Lesmeister? So many of the old faces have faded, but not necessarily in my memory. Remember Willie Martin? I always think of him on Memorial Day. 

 

Morris once had a place where you could buy "Army Surplus" items. Get a nice canteen, knapsack or other such item. The business was along East 7th Street, in the building now used by Chuck Lesmeister for storage (so I'm told). 

The complexion of Morris has changed so much. The public school building was across the street from the business I reference here. Kids ran downhill on the sidewalk, crossed East 7th and got snacks, comic books or baseball cards at Stark's Grocery. Stark's later became Budig's and the building now houses a monument company. 

East 7th Street was once the main entry to Morris from the east. It was attractive for businesses that catered to people traffic. 

Does inflation worry you now? It's in the news a lot. So I'll remind you that the Dairy Queen along East 7th had ice cream cones priced at five or ten cents. You might think I'm kidding. Definitely not. Those were the days when we'd appreciate the difference between 10 cents and 50 cents, when we'd leave a tip in restaurants with "coins." 

Today, newspapers have had to give up even having vending machines. Gone are the days when a person strolling along a sidewalk might decide to shove a mere couple coins in a vending machine. It's gone with the wind, along with the five and ten-cent ice cream cones (chocolate or vanilla) at the East 7th DQ. 

Here's a question: why have businesses like Dairy Queen decided to make their menus so complicated? They say they have a hard time finding help these days. Maybe the prospective employees just think the pay is insufficient. They have other, better outlets for getting support? But maybe it's not just the pay, maybe it's the stress of dealing with a large and overly complicated menu. And customers can be demanding. 

In the old days the choice was chocolate or vanilla. Take a look at the menu today. And I now learn that the Morris DQ has closed its lobby. The door was locked on Sunday evening, and a sign was on the door on Monday. Maybe this policy is subject to change based on the availability of help. I don't know, but a business risks alienating its customer base long-term with this limitation. 

Stop and think: if you live in a nearby community like Hancock and make a run into Morris some evening, and you decide you'd like a little treat, are you really going to do drive-through or take-out if you're going back to your home? With perhaps ice cream treats? No, I think a fair number of people would like to grab a seat for a few minutes. 

It is off-putting for the Morris community to have eating establishments that do not serve sit-down. I recently asked someone if, to their knowledge, McDonald's still had the kiosk-only policy for ordering inside. I was aware of that sign being in place there if not all the time, a good share of the time. I argued this was off-putting, maybe not so much to the very young crowd that takes to all the new systems. But for older people, I think it's rather an affront. 

The person with whom I was speaking said that, to her knowledge, McDonald's still had the sign up. I have emailed McDonald's corporate about this, got a nice and accommodating response. But it looks like the local owner has the leverage to continue the irritating policy. 

You might say this is a PR issue for Morris. Way back before the pandemic, one of my prime contacts at UMM dropped the comment, "I think Morris could use another restaurant." She brought up the subject entirely.

We lost a classic middle class restaurant, i.e. one with no alcohol, decent lighting and middle class prices, when the Riverwood bank expanded along Atlantic Avenue. Fewer people remember the restaurant that was there, which went by three names through the years. And, a restaurant's value is not just with food. It is a place for people to go and see their friends, because we are after all a social animal. The shutdown measures for the pandemic took a terrible toll because of this. 

The old restaurant had a meeting/banquet room with a sliding partition to offer some privacy, and the room even had a piano. The bank moved in there, and there has been no true replacement restaurant since. 

 

Doing us favors, eh?

Another bank! They occupy so much real estate along Atlantic Avenue. Riverwood is so proud to have a big banner up about how they offer "free checking." Make that "free and easy checking." What a favor this business does for all of us in the besieged middle class: they offer us free checking! Worthy of a banner draped over the side of the building. 

But wouldn't you prefer a bank where you could go like in the old days, to deposit money which would then earn interest for you? Remember when banks paid interest? You did business with a bank and then the bank actually paid you. A novel concept? Well, it has been the norm for most of U.S. history. You could get a certificate of deposit or a long-term CD that would pay more interest than the standard. 

Interest rates have been so low as to be negligible over the recent past. There was a slight break in 2018 when a push toward "normalization" was attempted. It failed. The Federal Reserve makes all these decisions, yet the Fed is supervised by unelected people. 

The Fed chopped interest rates by a full point when the pandemic started. This they did in a "special meeting." But when interest rates need to be raised, the process is much slower, as we are now witnessing. The Fed prioritizes the stock market. So congratulations if your "401K" or whatever seems to look decent, but just weigh that against prices for everything going up like all get-out. 

Aren't you feeling anxiety about the increasing prices? And remember the prices at the old Dairy Queen on Morris, East 7th Street, cones for a nickel or a dime. Push a couple coins into a vending machine, maybe just one, for the morning newspaper. Leave a coin or two on the restaurant table as your "tip." 

Oh, I remember. Go over to Lesmeister Motors and get your Army Surplus canteen. Or hey, a "mess kit!" Stop at Stark's Grocery for a fudgesickle and a current "Superman" or "Batman" comic. All things must pass, I guess. 

These days we guard our kids so closely, we might as well have them wrapped in Nerf.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com