Friday, October 02, 2009
Emily's adventures at cash registers
Emily Paine Carter is columnist So Salem. You can contact her at 981-3430 or via e-mail.
Emily Paine Carter
Recent columns from Salem, Glenvar and western Roanoke County
Today we chew on two amusing encounters of the edible-kind:
A recent transaction at Entenmanns Bakery Outlet made me chuckle.
The shop sits near the Salem border, just off Brandon Ave. (Ha, Mama jokingly calls such establishments "used-bread stores" -- only because their lowered prices might remind you of used-clothing shops. Emphatic legal disclaimer: I'm not saying that they sell used products; we must choose words ever-so-carefully these litigious days!)
Anyhow, at the cash register my purchases tallied $6.66 -- a number I noted in mock horror, as if seeing a sign of the Apocalypse, now.
But the cashier was prepared! She, uh, "registered" no emotion at the number on her screen. Seems the staff knows to glide past and reject that supposed mark-of-the-beast: if a customer comments on the "scary" Biblical number, the cash register is cued to drop a penny from the sum due.
I was amazed that "$6.66" has come up frequently enough that such a policy is in place.
Note that I wrote "supposed mark-of-the-beast." Some Biblical scholars now say that "666" might be a typo (scroll-o?). They're like the studious dudes pondering other ancient texts, who recently suggested that certain martyrs weren't promised 70 virgins in the afterlife, but 70 raisins. (Please, let this news-of-those-studying-ancient-texts provoke no battles!)
The "$6.66"-situation never pops up at Lee Eubanks' "The Ol Mule Hot Dog Co."
That's because all transactions include tax, said Lee. So: hot dogs, 2.50; praline-topped bread pudding ("while it lasts!"), $3.00; etc.
Lee was simply streamlining payments for a steady stream of busy customers -- although at this "official Southern Assimilation Station" many linger for wide-ranging chats with my colorful Ol' Wolverine classmate (Andrew Lewis High School Class of 1967, "The Best" -- not "The Beast!").
The shop's name refers to the classic "beast-of-burden": the mule. Miranda Adkins' So Salem feature a year ago explained that the name harks back to Lee's North Carolina granddaddy's mule.
And vintage but ever true-blue-and-white ALHS football players still delight in talking about teammates sturdy as ol' mules: true for Salem High School as well, of course. (Another legal disclaimer: no mules are involved in these gourmet hot dogs!)
And yes, you alert readers with keen memories: while tracking Salem architectural "genealogy," I mentioned the Ol Mule Hot Dog Co in a 2007 column even before it opened: Its tiny Boulevard building once housed a hair salon. And remember a 1960s shop there? It was a source for penny candy and Beatles' bubblegum cards.
Entenmanns Bakery Outlet, 3772 Peters Creek Rd. SW Roanoke. (540) 981-1352.
The Ol Mule Hot Dog Co, 203 Boulevard, Salem. (540) 520-5324.
