There’s a Hostess Outlet store in town. Ah heck. There is no way to write this but to use a truthful tense. There was a Hostess Outlet Store in town. In addition to bread and Twinkies it had a wide assortment of goodies including some Bob’s Red Mill items. Yesterday we drove into the parking lot, and yes, it’s closed permanently. The handwritten “Bread 50₵” sign was our first clue. The completely empty and disorganized shelves and “Everything Must Go” sign were confirmation. The Hostess Store was the base for several– maybe four or five– Hostess delivery trucks. Two of our neighbors– themselves next door neighbors– were drivers. One of them has four kids, three of them in ninth grade or below. I’m not sure about the other’s married/kid status, but Bo is raising Walker, Savanna, and Caroline alone. (Tyler’s gone off to school. Bo got custody of all four of the kids in the divorce– even though Tyler wasn’t even Bo’s biological kid.) Last summer the other guy– who apparently really liked his job– put up a new mailbox. It looked sort of like this, except it was a mailbox and instead of “Wonder” it said “Hostess.”
It was very cheerful, if a bit odd.
The other day I noticed that his mailbox was painted red. Yesterday, on the way to the Piglet, we noticed a sign taped to one side of the mailbox.
What to make of this?
After noon yesterday we all piled in the truck and took “a drive” to see what was going on and sure enough, there were a few cars in his driveway. I can think of two just-so-story explanations. 1. He had already planned to have family and friends for dinner after church. After he lost his job, he was talking to these folks and someone suggested that since he was such a good cook he should open a restaurant. So the sign that greeted his company was a joke– he’s making the best of a bad situation. We should laugh! 2. My neighbor is selling plate lunches– at his house on a road that most GPS systems can not find– for $7.95. Mr. Big Food thinks $7.95 for a plate lunch is high. If this is the explanation, we don’t think he’ll be in business for long. We should cry.
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