Why are they doing this to me right now? It's just going to get me going. They are building a Tractor Supply store in Gunnison, CO. I'm appalled.
Tractor Supply. I'm old enough to remember going to "town" with my farmer-grandfather to buy something at a Tractor Supply store in the Cornbelt of the Midwest, 50 years ago! And the store actually was a part of the agricultural sector of the economy back then. An old fogey's memory being as selective as it is, I remember that he needed to buy a new water pump for his tractor.
Today I will occasionally walk into a Tractor Supply just to wallow in disgust. They are nothing but boutiques that project a "fine country home" image for the benefit of ex-metropolitanites who have moved out to a hobby farm or ranch. Fancy western-style clothes, cute-sie decorations, and gimmicks galore. OK, to be fair, there are still some serious and useful things in the store.
My grandfather drove me there in his pickup truck, of course. What else -- he was a farmer. He must have owned that Chevy pickup for 30 years. It was completely utilitarian. And not that big.
Yes, I know, we are supposed to laugh at the retrogrouch who yearns for the pickup truck to go back to its hallowed past. This is not a new phenomenon of course. Consider the retrogrouches of antiquity. Quotidiana.org has several nice essays by Seneca written about 50 A.D. that scold the "moderns" for living like decadent Greek sybarites, rather than with the honorable, simple manliness of Romans back in the heroic age. Or read up on Cato the Censor in Wikipedia.
But is the retrogrouch actually wrong? There is a larger, more general issue here; but human beings find large projects too off-putting and daunting. That's why it is useful to try to boil it down to a concrete case -- like the pickup truck -- so we can wrestle with it, using our own common sense and experiences.
Tractor Supply. I'm old enough to remember going to "town" with my farmer-grandfather to buy something at a Tractor Supply store in the Cornbelt of the Midwest, 50 years ago! And the store actually was a part of the agricultural sector of the economy back then. An old fogey's memory being as selective as it is, I remember that he needed to buy a new water pump for his tractor.
Today I will occasionally walk into a Tractor Supply just to wallow in disgust. They are nothing but boutiques that project a "fine country home" image for the benefit of ex-metropolitanites who have moved out to a hobby farm or ranch. Fancy western-style clothes, cute-sie decorations, and gimmicks galore. OK, to be fair, there are still some serious and useful things in the store.
My grandfather drove me there in his pickup truck, of course. What else -- he was a farmer. He must have owned that Chevy pickup for 30 years. It was completely utilitarian. And not that big.
Yes, I know, we are supposed to laugh at the retrogrouch who yearns for the pickup truck to go back to its hallowed past. This is not a new phenomenon of course. Consider the retrogrouches of antiquity. Quotidiana.org has several nice essays by Seneca written about 50 A.D. that scold the "moderns" for living like decadent Greek sybarites, rather than with the honorable, simple manliness of Romans back in the heroic age. Or read up on Cato the Censor in Wikipedia.
But is the retrogrouch actually wrong? There is a larger, more general issue here; but human beings find large projects too off-putting and daunting. That's why it is useful to try to boil it down to a concrete case -- like the pickup truck -- so we can wrestle with it, using our own common sense and experiences.
Comments
Jim
So nicely, done, the reference to ancient Greeks and Romans?.... who I have heard of, at least (I have to maintain some credibility here) but certainly have not read and, if I had, promptly forgot.
The bigger point, all kidding aside, is that it seems to be a human tendency to lament losses of the past and perhaps this indicates a bigger tendency to idealize the past. If it was so great, why did those who were alive during those times take every step available to them to change and hopefully improve their lot?
People have always been attracted to glitter. Wasn't it Shakespeare who said "All that glitters is not gold?" You probably know where that actually came from, the context; I just remember the quote. Lord knows, I've said it enough to a person in my past.
Another human tendency.....attraction to glitter.
But even a beat-up old pick up truck can have a charm, a certain charm representing a certain idealized past, and can actually be a certain kind of glitter all its own, perhaps even more effectively deceiving than the fancy western clothes and cutsie decorations.
In his essay entitled "Some Arguments in Favor of the Simple Life", he says, in part:
"My friend Maximus and I have been spending a most happy period of two days, taking with us very few slaves—one carriage load..."
Doesn't get much better than that.
Jim
Bad Boonie.
I did make a (lame) attempt to be fair to the store.
All kidding aside, I agree with you that Tractor Supply is a good store WHEN COMPARED to other modern stores. But I was making myself unnecessarily bothered by the comparison with the past.
Had I know how much you love retro junk a few year back I would gladly have given you my old Dodge D 150 , but for the life of me I'll keep my 07 Tundra Crewmax Limited until it falls apart in 2027 , but if we ever meet - ill let you tow your trailer with it , so I can hear your views on how much you love it & wanna get one.
Jerry