Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Speedy Shop

It was a fixture at Wyoming and Spruce in downtown Scranton for more than two decades.  The Speedy Shop was a little mini mart in the front corner of the Hotel Jermyn.

I worked in an office at 415 Lackawanna Avenue for several years, in the early and mid 90's, and I was a frequent Speedy Shop customer.

My morning visit was to usually pick up the same items-- a Tastykake lemon pie and a Diet Pepsi.  If I stopped by in the afternoon, it was to just grab a soda.  There were times I needed to get out of the building for a few minutes.  A short walk and some outside air (notice, I didn't say "fresh") seemed to help if I got stuck during the construction of a story.  The words always fell in to place when I returned.

I will never forget a morning in August of 1996.  I was paying for my pie and soda when I told the very pretty young lady behind the cash register that I would no longer be a regular.  I was leaving my job, involuntarily.  She said "Who will be nice to me?" and started to cry.  Her tears nearly prompted waterworks of my own.

We don't do it nearly enough-- appreciate the little things in life, like a morning pie and soda.  I was originally tempted to say the friendliness of a mini mart clerk is part of the "little things," but it really isn't.  She was a welcome sight at the start of my day, and you can't put that in the "little" category.

I haven't been in The Speedy Shop in years.  I always meant to stop by, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  If Speedy Shop employees and alumni read this, thank you for improving my days, and I wish you all nothing but good times in the future.