“In today's news, county planners have approved plans for the new Pennlawn Plaza. Developers hope to open Delphia City's first-ever Ultra-MegaMart store in the plaza later this year.” On the television, the talking head from channel 6 continued speaking the latest news: the nearby branch of SCB was robbed yesterday; unemployment remains high while manufacturers post record profits; another home invasion in nearby Parched Creek; utility fees are going up – again. “Now let's turn to the weather and find out if this record heat wave will end soon.”

On one end of the couch, Mary didn't have much to say about the news. “Well, Delphia City's gonna have an Ultra-MegaMart at last. The city is growing.” Sitting at the other end of the couch, her teen aged daughter Suzy nodded without saying a word, all the while focused on the glowing screen. Continuing her statement, Mary said, “I remember growing up in this town long before anyone thought about Ultra-MegaMarts and such. When papa needed a tool for whatever he was working on, he would go to John's Hardware on La Fayette Drive and get it. That store is still there, after all this time.”

Suzy broke her silence, and looked away from the TV. “Is John still running the store? How old is he now... 80?” Mary answered her daughter: “Well, when I was a little girl, old John looked younger than my grandpa. He still runs the place. I remember several years back when his sons got out of school and he was expecting them to take over the store. One son went to college, the other joined the army or navy; they haven't come back. So John continued operating the store without further help from his family. Kinda sad to think that the store is all he has nowadays.”

“Yeah, that is kinda sad,” replied Suzy. Still in a state of reflectance [the instructor corrected this word to read "reflection"], her mother Mary continued talking. “My cousin Larry, he always liked hot rod cars. So did his friend Edward, but he liked them even more. So Ed quit school, borrowed some money from his family, and opened up the Auto Haus. You've seen the place, it's on Moore Road... haven't you? Ed's still there, as well as his family. Working on cars is all he knows and it's what he does best.”

“I've seen the Auto Haus. Do you remember the time Dad tried to fix the car?” Suzy answered. Mary responded, “Yeah, the car was sluggish. He went to the Auto Haus, bought some parts and a how-to book, and I had to call a tow truck to take the car to the dealer for transmission repair. Your father couldn't fix a darn thing.” Suzy replied, trying to change the subject: “I know, I know. Say, didn't cousin Sue start working at the Ultra-MegaMart in Brookshire a while back?”

“Yeah, the last time I heard from her, she's usually stocking, or running the registers, or on the cleaning crew. Sometimes they have her working overtime, but it's a good thing that her best friend can look after Taylor and Austin. It's good that she can earn that extra money for her two boys.”

The next day, it is life as usual for our two characters; Mary goes to work, Suzy goes to school, they return home and watch TV. The evening news, however, had a different story to report on. In front of the town hall, a crowd had gathered, carrying signs of different shapes and colors. “Ultra-MegaMart destroys communities.” “Commissioner Garrett, Change Your Mind!” “Say No to Big Business!” “Support Local Shops and Stores.”

Mary reacted to the sight. “People always wanna grumble about things,” she said. Suzy was amazed by the protesters and their messages. “Mom, look at the size of the crowd!” Mary replied: “Yeah, mostly it's people saying that Ultra-MegaMart will take away business from other stores. I see nothing wrong with it; it's gonna be another place to shop in this town.”

Suzy seemed satisfied by the answer, but had more to say. “I've heard from some of the students and teachers that the new Ultra-MegaMart is gonna have many departments. They say that there will be a supermarket, a hardware store, an automotive store with a place to repair cars, and more. It sounds nice, but one of my teachers said that Ultra-MegaMart stores tend to do a lot more business than smaller companies.”

Mary remarked, “Your teacher's pretty smart. Are you learning economics in school right now?” Suzy continued her speech: “No, but my teacher was majoring in business for a while. Anyways, based on what she said, I think that when Ultra-MegaMart opens, it will steal customers away from the stores in this town. Remember those places you talked about yesterday? They might not keep up with the new store.”

For a moment Mary thought about what Suzy had just said. Then she replied, “Well, there are people who know John and Ed well, and they will always shop at John's Hardware and the Auto Haus. It would be wrong for them to switch and shop at Ultra-MegaMart instead.” After hearing this, Suzy went down the hallway to her room.

After what seemed like an eternity (in Suzy's view at least), the last day of school came and went. Suzy spent the first week of summer break relaxing and sitting around the house. However, that routine became too boring for her, and she thought about finding a summer job, since she was now old enough to start working. Her mother shuttled Suzy around town; Suzy gained valuable experience filling out applications at a few stores and numerous other places of business. The car zoomed by Pennlawn Plaza, dominated by a halfway-completed Ultra-MegaMart flanked by smaller, nameless, unfinished storefronts.

Responses were few - John's Hardware had just one position available, but part of the duties involved cutting wood and metal products, so Suzy couldn't do that; the Auto Haus didn't need any help, but Suzy had already given up on them early (knowing from Mary that Ed hired from his family.) One day, however, Jed's Country Grocery on Walnut Street gave Suzy a call: they sure could use an extra hand with bagging and stocking produce.

The next month of summer break was exciting for Suzy: she only had to work four or five hours a day, the customers were quite friendly (some even knew Suzy from school), and her supervisor was pretty flexible with break times. Suzy felt satisfied that she had something constructive to do, and she was supplementing her paltry allowance with her wages. As soon as she settled into this pleasing routine and started to enjoy its benefits, however, construction on Ultra-MegaMart was finished and soon the store opened its doors like a hungry mouth.

A month went by as the summer break drew to a close. Suzy was looking forward to working at the grocery when the school year began, but it felt like a bomb was dropped on her world. Jed himself told Suzy that she was being let go, since the store suddenly lost customers and they could no longer keep up with the new Ultra-MegaMart. Dejected, Suzy returned to her regular routine: school in the morning, and dull afternoons and evenings at the house.

A few weeks later, Mary received her monthly telephone call from her mother. Her mother relayed the batch of family news – father is feeling better since his hip surgery; Mary's sister Diane is getting married again; and cousin Sue had to leave Ultra-MegaMart on disability. Mary's mother stated that Sue was on the cleaning crew a lot lately and those chemicals became too much for her; plus Sue said that they've been working her “like a dog.” Mary expressed optimism that Sue's disability payments would provide enough for her and her sons.

Most residents of the community welcomed the new store. In fact, people from the surrounding communities embraced the marvelous all-in-one shopping experience as well. The shoppers wandered in awe at the seemingly endless aisles of merchandise. “Look at the supermarket section!” “Hey, I can get my car worked on in the automotive section while I shop the rest of the store!” “Whoa, this must be the largest hardware section in the world!”

Sometime later, as the novelty of the new store started to wear off, Mary received an Ultra-MegaMart sales flier in the mail. Turning the pages, she noted the specials on personal goods (a twelve-pack of toilet tissue for $4.99), groceries (ground beef at 99 cents a pound), household goods, etc. Realizing that she needed a few items for the house, she drove to Ultra-MegaMart with Suzy in tow. The two women became part of the wide line of customers as they entered through the shining automatic glass doors.

One of Ultra-MegaMart's many gimmicks involves the use of door greeters who welcomed customers with a friendly smile. What surprised Mary is that she was greeted by someone quite familiar. Mary asked, “John, is that you?” The old man quietly replied, “I started to lose customers, and I couldn't keep the store running. I had to close it, and I'd nowhere to go afterwards. The pay here is okay; I can get by on it.”

While Mary and Suzy stood and talked with John, a weary-looking Ultra-MegaMart associate walked quickly from one of the checkout lines to the merchandise loading area. The customer had just purchased a 32-inch television and they wanted it loaded on their truck. Edward, the associate, was called upon to load the merchandise. As he lifted the bulky box without the help of machinery, he thought to himself, “I wanted to work in the automotive section, but nooo, they wouldn't hire me without certifications. It didn't matter that I once ran a successful automotive store without those stupid certifications.” His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a sharp pain in his lower back.

As Mary and Suzy walked towards the endless aisles of merchandise, Mary brought Suzy's attention to a large colorful sign: “Become Part of the Ultra-MegaMart Team!” Mary said, “Hey, you could work here after school.” She tore off an application from the pad on the sign and gave it to her daughter. Suzy held on to it, and while Mary looked at a section of cheap plastic food containers, Suzy crumpled up the application and left it on a shelf.

[instructor comment: "Very good Jason. You nailed the satire." Grade: A]

This story - © 2004 J. Goude. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without permission.

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