Food, food, food, food, food and $800 million

Friday, January 8

My first purchase of the day – and it takes place outside of the borough!  Not a good start.  I had an early morning meeting in Blue Bell.  And I’m the kind of guy that needs to start the day off with coffee.  Saxbys and Starbucks are both in the borough.  7-11 sells coffee, as do other places.  But I want my coffee to be hot when I get to my destination, so I stop at a Wawa in Blue Bell.

Wawa – what a local icon.  Towamencin Township has two.  Upper Gwynedd has two as well.  North Wales Borough has one.  We are surrounded by Wawas!  But we don’t have one.  But do we want one?  They are great stores, but can be category killers (putting small, locally owned gas stations or convenience stores out of business).  “Gotta Have Wawa” is their slogan.  But should it also be a mantra for Lansdale Borough?

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (But I could have)

My next purchase also took place outside of the borough.  And I know I could have made it in the borough.  But I didn’t want people to see me buying this item.  It would be embarrassing.

The item?  A lottery ticket.  Yes, I know the chances of winning are as close to zero as you can get.  I know I’d probably get more satisfaction standing in the middle of Main Street and lighting my two dollars on fire.  But for that brief two days, the thought that I could be carrying $800 million in my pocket is kind of intoxicating.  Even knowing that the cash value of a lump sum payment after taxes in only about $250 million (hmmm, almost doesn’t seem worth it at that point!).

So, even though I could have bought a lottery ticket at many Lansdale Borough outlets, I didn’t want to go through the shame of having someone I know see me wasting money.  Irrationality score for the day = 1.

I’ll promise you this.  If I win (ha-ha), you’ll see the 311 West Main building turn into something fabulous!

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (But I could have)

I’m going to warn you – we’re not going out to dinner tonight!  Tonight is family dinner night.  We’re having the kids and grandkids over for a home-cooked meal.  So that means a trip to the supermarket.  But I am going to take that old adage to heart, “Never go food shopping on an empty stomach.”

So we stop for a quick lunch at Frank’s Pizza.  I love the pizza here.  Very inventive stuff.  I had a slice of – well, not sure what to call it.  Pizza slice shaped, but with a crust on top and bottom.  Filled with cheesesteak.  I’ll call it delicious.

I love Frank’s.  Clean, spacious with friendly service.  One of the best when it comes to Lansdale pizza.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

So then it’s off to the supermarket.  Giant in Hatfield.  I would have shopped in the borough if I could have, but I couldn’t.  You’re going to hear this a lot – we spend a lot of time and money in supermarkets.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (I would have if I could have, but it’s something not available in the borough)

There were two more trips to the supermarket (Acme, this time) for forgotten items needed for dinner.  How great it would have been to turn back the clock and have had a Clemens Supermarket at Main and Mitchell again. 

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero times two (I would have if I could have, but it’s something not available in the borough)

And that does it for the day!

So the recap:

ONE opportunity to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

TWO missed opportunities where I shopped outside the borough, but could have found what I needed here.

THREE needs not fulfilled by a Lansdale establishment.

Let’s see what today brings!