You'll Find it Here

 Welcome to Reelfoot Lake

There is a place in northwest Tennessee, just south of the Kentucky border, where I used to love going as a child. My father and I would stay in a rented cabin on Reelfoot Lake and it's some of my fondest childhood memories. There isn't any place in the world like it and the neighboring towns were tiny Tiptonville and Union City, no more than dots on any map.

Spenser's

Every year, on our drive up from Memphis, we'd stop at Spencer's Groceries, just inside Tiptonville, to get a few supplies, like food, drinks, or some worms, before we moved on to our cabin on the lake. Spencer's Groceries was a very small store, not much more than the old general stores one would see in TV westerns, and it only held the bare essentials; nothing fancy. 

Mr. Spencer was not just the owner, but he was also the only cashier, and he didn't even have a cash register. Instead, he used an adding machine, the kind with the mechanical handle he'd have to pull to get sub-totals and finally the total. 

Everyone's Favorite

Spencer's groceries was every local's favorite place to shop for groceries and even though Mr. Spencer was never what most would consider a huge success, he had a profitable business, everyone in Tiptonville shopped there, he served his customers well, and he was very happy with it. 

The Newcomers

Not only did all the locals shop there, but it was also the first place newcomers would go to for supplies or directions. There is a story that one day a stranger arrived at the store and walked up to Mr. Spencer, who was working on the books behind his adding machine.

"Excuse me sir, ", said the visitor, "but I just got transferred here and I'll be your new neighbor, and I was just wondering, what kind of people there are that live here."

Mr. Spencer looked up from his books, over his glasses and asked, "What kind of people were they where you come from?"

The gentleman said, "Oh, they were the friendliest people you'd ever want to know. They were a hardworking and thrifty bunch who'd give you the shirt of their back if you needed it."

"Well,", said Mr. Spencer, with a smile, "that'll be the kind of people you'll find here also."

The gentleman got his supplies and left.

On a different day, another gentleman came into the store while Mr. Spencer was pricing and stocking canned beans onto the shelf and the stranger approached him.

"Excuse me sir," the stranger said, "I was just transferred to Tiptonville, so I'll be living here. What kind of people would you say are here?"

"What kind of people were they where you're moving from?" asked Mr. Spencer.

"Oh, they were terrible. They were hard to get along with, always so rude and unwilling to help with anything." said the stranger. "They were unfriendly and never said hello and so lazy."

"Well," said Mr. Spencer, "I imagine that's the kind of people you'll find here in Tiptonville." 

The man left in a huff as Mr. Spencer finished his task and preceded towards his adding machine, to wait for the next customer.

For more stories and humorous art, click here.