Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Heads or Tails Tuesday: Any Tom, Dick or Harry

Well, I wasn't going to participate in Skittles' Heads or Tails Tuesday today. I thought about Harry Potter. I love the Harry Potter books. I wouldn't be surprised if J.K. Rowling had put an enchantment on them. They are just so darned magical and entertaining and wonderfully well written. But that's really about all I have to say on that subject and it hardly seems like a real post.

So I wasn't going to write anything. But Tuesday is Schwan's Day. As some of you know, I'm disabled and home-bound. There are many inconveniences to this, one of which is it makes grocery shopping complicated. When I first moved to Hancock, I was fortunate to find a very lovely woman who shopped for me every few weeks for a very modest cost. Eventually, though, she found a real job and I was forced to take advantage of one of my friends and combine that with shopping at Netgrocer.com. At first that meant only non-perishable foods, but they expanded to shipping frozen and refrigerated items. Problem with Netgrocer. Mega pricy way to live, especially when you have hardly any money. About 4 months ago, I discovered Schwan's. I love Schwan's. Their food, while not as cheap as going to a grocery store, is pretty reasonable and excellent quality. I can't get fresh fruit or Soysilk or items like that, but for someone like me it is wonderful to have the security of knowing that every other Tuesday - snow, rain or shine - a big yellow truck will drive up and deliver frozen food to me. Which brings me to Tom. Tom M is my Schwan's person. He moved to New York State recently from North Carolina. He's a kind man and brings not just groceries every two weeks, but a friendly face. He always makes an effort to get me the best deals possible on products, to make sure I'm able to take advantage of special sales. Angel and Tara Grace love him. I think Angel would run away with him if I'd let her. Today we had a "chat" about politics. We are on diametric opposite sides of the political universe, but it was still a friendly debate. Alas, I wasn't able to bring him into the political light, but I had a good time trying.

So I want to say here that I'm grateful for Tom M. who instead of just dumping off a load of groceries, conducts his role in my life - providing me with sustenance - with grace, humor and kindness.

15 comments:

ShannonW said...

Schwan's has great ice cream!

Susan Demeter said...

Tom sounds like a wonderful guy! Great post :) And Happy HOT day, thanks so much for stopping by!

Raven said...

simply shannon - great ice cream and they make a mighty fine lemon cream pie too... among many bad for me options.

Raven said...

thanks for stopping by Raven's Nest, Sue.

Barb said...

What a nice man to treat you so nice. :)

Anonymous said...

I have a Schwann's guy, too, but they seem to revolve like the earth in upstate NY! I liked my last pair; they were a traveling comedy team!

Anonymous said...

Great post. I love that you took the time to recognize someone's hard work.... and I love Harry Potter too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful post.
I love honoring the people that I know.
Schwann's was my neighbor's favorite food. She tried to get me to sign up but I just did not have the room in my tiny house for a freezer.

Thanks for stopping by Penny Lane.
I am glad you like my "mad list making". I guess I just like order or maybe that is the librarian in me coming out in the off hours.

storyteller said...

I thought briefly of ‘Harry Potter’ for HoT … but since I used the Hogwart’s Express for a previous Heads or Tails, I decided to use a different Harry … along with a Tom & and Dick. (Thanks for visiting mine at Small Reflections earlier). I’d never heard of Schwan’s but it sounds like a wonderful ‘service’ and I’m happy you have someone like Tom M who delivers to you with humor, kindness and grace.
Hugs and blessings,

Anonymous said...

Such a great, great post. Well done. Sounds like such a likable guy, and I'm really glad that you get to enjoy seeing him every other week. I've always liked Schwan's items, but you are right about the price. Still, the convenience can definitely make it worth it, especially if it's otherwise so much harder to get what you need. Where I live, pretty much all of the major grocery chains deliver, but I don't know that they have a Tom M doing the delivery, so you've got a good thing going ;)

Raven said...

Hi skittles - thanks for dropping by.

kiki - I'm in Upstate New York too. I hope they don't change his route.

in the name of the blog - thanks... I'm deeply committed to gratitude... I hope J.K. Rowling comes up with a new series. She's such a gifted writer.

jean at penny lane - I have been really impressed with Schwan's so far... and it has made my life much more managable.

storyteller - I had heard about Schwan's ice cream years ago from a friend in the Washington, D.C. area. It had never occurred to me that they would operate here in the middle of nowhere, but apparently they operate nationwide. Hancock is a very small town but apparently there are over 100 customers here alone. This could be because we have ONE grocery store which as bad as it is high priced.

maggie's mind - I wish places around here delivered. We have one grocery store and they don't, as far as I can tell, cater to anybody's needs. Delivery services are the one thing I miss about New York City.

Le Butterfly said...

Very cool. Its great that such services exist.

I almost also didn't participate in Head or Tails.

Anonymous said...

For someone who was going to write nothing, you ended up with a very great post.

Also I can't think of the word addicted without it sounding the other way in my head. It is permanently stuck that way now. Sorry to have inflicted that on you, LOL

Dianne said...

Tom sounds wonderful. Love the photo of the him and his truck.

I shop for a neighbor ever since she had her hip surgery. She always has something baked and waiting for me. She's a delightful lady who is far more grateful than my little act requires.

Wish we were neighbors :)

Raven said...

simone - I was really surprised that Schwan's came here. It's an interesting company. Been around for a long time. Very well run... at least in my experience

vixen - thanks for your visit. You had to go and remind me about a-dick-Ted...

Hi dianne - he really is a lovely man. You are such a good person. Your neighbor is a lucky woman. Would be great to have you for a neighbor. Houses in this are are still pretty cheap...