GOOD ENOUGH

ROB INGRAM REVEALS HOW HIS LOCAL SMALL TOWN SUPERMARKET TEACHES HIM THE VALUE OF ACCEPTANCE OVER TOLERANCE OR RESIGNATION.

the occasional downside to small town living. I mean, have you ever had to explain to the gaggle of king parrots that wait for you each morning that the supermarket is out of Frankie & Friends Sunflower Seeds? They look you up and down with the sort of insolence that says, “Well, what are you going to do about it?” then spend the rest of the day sledging cheap insults like an Australian cricket team.

The small town supermarket shapes regional living in more ways than we realise. American author Garrison Keillor is one of my favourite writers because no-one depicts the humility of small town life better. And Keillor taught me to the lessons of life offered by the small town supermarket. Or, in his case, the grocery store.

In his fictitious hometown of Lake Wobegon, the grocery store was owned by Ralph. Ralph was reluctant to set his sights too high, especially in such a modest town as Lake Wobegon. So instead of spruiking his business as a supermarket, he decided to name his business Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery Store.

The expectations for a supermarket were just too high, but “a pretty good grocery store” sat comfortably with Ralph. In this more modest endeavour, he easily succeeded, and he ended up pretty happy with the result. And the town did, too.

His motto and, by extension, his message to the world at large was “If you can’t get what you want at Ralph’s, you can probably get along without it.”

In Dunedoo, our Ralph is Trish. And we are all pretty comfortable with the fact that Trish calls our grocery store a supermarket. In terms of expectation, it probably comes in at around “Trish’s pretty good supermarket”. Trish’s motto might well be “You can get pretty much everything you want at Trish’s Pretty Good Supermarket … but maybe not every time”. Like, you can always get Felix Doubly Delicious Cat Food at Trish’s, but you can’t always get Frankie & Friends Sunflower Seeds.

If I could ever be persuaded to walk down the aisle again, it would be the cat food aisle and not the bird seed aisle.

What I particularly like about our supermarket, is that its doors are the only thing in town that acknowledges my existence. You might think that a writer — not as famous as Garrison Keillor, but famous enough to get a spot inside the back cover of Country Style — would get a nod of acknowledgement when seen in the main street of Dunedoo. Well, think again. But when the doors at Trish’s Pretty Good Supermarket sense my arrival, they pay me the bashful respect of opening for me. And this, despite the fact that they promise so much more excitement than I do.

The doors at Trish’s Pretty Good Supermarket are festooned with posters promising a festive frenzy snack food nirvana. Burger Rings, Twisties and Cheetos are two for $2, Aussie Bodies Arvo Peanut Protein Bars are half price, Red Rock Deli Popcorn is $2.50 and Original Corn Thins are $1.20. They sound like pretty good prices to me.

It’s hard to spend too much money at Trish’s. Only once I’ve been surprised. I got $10 out of my wallet, but my selection of junk food came to $11.99. “You used to be able to load up with a month’s supply for that,” I said to the lady behind me. “Yes, I know,” she said, “but now they’ve got cameras everywhere.”

The important lesson that the small town supermarket teaches us is the value of acceptance ... of the often-overlooked differences between tolerance and resignation and acceptance.

At the small town newsagent next door, gourmet magazines are packed with recipes featuring trendy ingredients such as kohlrabi, freekeh and cassava chips. The small town supermarket teaches us that if these aren’t on the shelves, move on… don’t fret or frown. Enjoy the clarity and calmness that acceptance brings, and consider the options. Burger Rings might be a fine replacement for cassava chips. But good luck explaining all this to the parrots.

“YOU CAN GET PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING YOU WANT AT TRISH’S PRETTY GOOD SUPERMARKET ... BUT MAYBE NOT EVERY TIME”