Buying the books
Listening to the local news this evening they took the time to remind us there’s time to go and buy school supplies. After all there will be people back in the bunkers within a couple of weeks. But I found the announcement to buy your school supplies a little short. I wonder how many among us remember the good old days. Back when we went to Eaton’s downstairs to buy not only our school supplies but our textbooks. Yes there was a time when governmental largess stepped back from the plate and left families responsible for purchasing all those readers and math books at other items of learning. For me because I was an avid reader there was great joy in getting first access to the thick reader even though it was probably not the best move academically. Families had to stretch the budget in order to make sure that the list of textbooks was covered. If you lived in a large family you could depend upon having hand me downs in the classroom. And then suddenly the government decided that purchasing a full set of textbooks for the province was a good idea. I have no clue how much they spent for that little move. Probably a lot of money from the federal government. And with that move came a change in routine. Getting ready for school could be handled by a trip to the local general store. After all they sold scribblers and pencils. I no longer have any of my textbooks. Some things do not make it across the stretch of time but I remember the titles and I remember some of the stories. A credit to the people that designed curriculums back in the day. I mean where else would I learn about the barn that caught fire after the whole crop of kernels had been stowed away.
