For more than 50 years it stood on the corner of Terrill Road and Route 22,
once the busiest road in the US of A. From an obscure corner in Plainfield, and
moving to Route 22, it was the largest store in the New York Group, selling over
$27 million in 1972 dollars, and it was where many of us worked after school and
after graduation. It was Sears, at the time the face of America in retailing,
but today closing all its stores over a period of years because it cannot
compete with online and cheaper Chinese made junk. Sears was America, their
flagship brands of J. C. Higgins, Kenmore and Craftsman known for quality. It
was Cheryl Tiegs, golfer Johnny Miller, and Ted Williams, it was America red,
white, and blue. With service to back it up, while some were in college getting
a degree, I was working there and earning one in life. Working on the receiving
platform, I learned about life from the drivers, mostly like Archie Bunker in
this All in the Family era, 1972. We were a cross section of ethnic groups,
from my best boss ever, Dominic Iannucci, to Herman Reeder, the funniest black
guy or any guy ever. Hassan Hassan, “is that your first or last name?” His
answer, “yes.” It was where I learned customer service, the importance of
accuracy when checking in loads, the value of over time to the working man, and
how life worked. The first and last place we got paid by cash, how important
you felt with all that $2.25/hour cash, and a big let down when they started
with checks, and you had to make a trip to the bank, but still they would cash
it for you there. It was the first place I met people from other towns other
than in sports, and opened up a whole new world for dating. It was a job we
liked to go to, we bragged on having, and where we got paid adult wages at
teenager years. Where a brotherhood of coworkers was formed, and even stopping
in many years after I moved west, was still greeted, and introduced as “the ping
pong table guy.” An infamous story better told at another time.....
But when I got the news last week, oh boy, it made me feel bad. To be
replaced by yet another strip mall, I guess that is what it takes to replace
this 150,000+ square foot store, but will not even come close to what Sears
represented to us then, and I remember now. To Dom, Basic, Herman, Hines,
Busch, Big Fat Richie, PC, Zitsch Larson, Tiny, Small Change, Big and Little
Karls, and Mike Naylor, you guys were friends, teachers, confidants, and role
models to us Jersey guys. So many who we spent so many working hours with,
hanging at Charlie Browns, playing softball, or solving Jersey problems, thanks
for the memories, but sadly when we tell the stories, when they look at yet
another strip mall, who will ever appreciate what the store meant to us. Or the
stories we could tell.....but store #1294 is no more.
The Bible tells us that we walk by faith not by sight. Seems we tell
stories, and believe them by faith also. We all know the story of Sodom and
Gomorrah, but today there is no trace of them, for they are completely removed
forever, just like God said. Like the gate to the Garden of Eden, it is hidden,
and no man can find it, what God hides he hides very well. But what he reveals
to man, he reveals even better. His love for his creation so immense and
unfathomable, that even centuries after Jesus, he still calls out to the lost in
love. The Bible although burned and banned in places like China, India, North
Korea, and some African nations, still goes forth. Very few reminders of where
it was written and about who, yet when researched to prove or disprove, only
reveals a loving God, whose truth cannot be denied. He gives us faith to
believe that we cannot see, to hear that which is inaudible, and to trust that
which is not a secret. Before printing he chose to write his words on our
hearts, and still does today, try that technophobes. He still provides a way to
heaven for free,when the world offers self help course for big money. He still
deals in truth while so many deal in opinions, and he still loves and forgives,
while others seek retribution, and intimidate. All by faith...
So maybe when I tell the stories again of the ping pong table, of the blind
customer in Customer Service, of Herman locking Phyllis in the candy lockup,
some will doubt, some laugh, some be entertained, believing what they want. But
we, I was there, and know it to be true. Just like the gospel today, God is
still here, he never left, and he knows the truth, for he is truth. Let all men
be liars, he still is truth. The only place to turn for the truth and the best
advice. And in the same faith we believe he raised Jesus from the dead, we know
we will be resurrected too. The stories of my times at Sears still resonate,
but Jesus Christ in my life is even more real. Like it was yesterday, except it
is today, and every day.
Some pay for an education, I got paid while getting mine. Earn while you
learn, or vice versa, it is only the application of our education that is
important. Applying God’s love to a lost and dying world is what he calls us to
do. To love those unlovely, reach out to the less fortunate, and to tell the
truth about him. At work, play, and even at church. I don’t go in for
reunions, but the one in heaven I cannot wait to attend. So many of my friends
will be there, but many won’t. It is to them I reach out daily, for if you had
trouble with the first coming of Jesus, you really won’t like his next one. But
he is patient so that none shall perish. Memories fade, photos are lost,
buildings are torn down. But God has prepared a special place in heaven for
those that believe. With the names of those saved written in the book of life.
Many sign yearbooks, we get to sign God’s. We are in it. What you remember
will be based on what you do and know today. Back then the tag line was “Sears
has everything!” Back then we thought they did, now we know they had everything
except a future. Don’t you go the same way. Only in Christ will we have
everything... and at prices you can afford.
No more Christmas Wishbook, but we still have the one of promise, the
Bible. Aren’t you glad God keeps his promises? What does he mean to you?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com