School's In For Autumn!
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0399
Yesterday was supposed to be the start of school here in Jefferson County. Thanks to this past weekend's windstorm, it looks like tomorrow will finally be the first day of school. The storm, however, is a topic for another Janus File. This file is about back-to-school shopping.
Am I right in thinking that the stores put the back-to-school displays out a little earlier this year? The past few years, I clearly recall stores stocking their seasonal sections with various school supplies somewhere around Independence Day. This year, I think it was still technically spring when I saw the first hints of binders, pens, and notebooks materializing on the shelves. I don't remember the specific date, but I do know that it was sometime between Flag Day and the summer solstice.
Wow. When I was going to school (admittedly, that was a few million years ago), if school started this week, the back-to-school sections probably would have been in place maybe two weeks ago. Three at the most. We didn't even get our list of school supplies until the first day of school. Then, of course, there was the mad dash to Walgreens, or Target, or wherever to get what was needed.
Seeing the back-to-school shopping has brought back a couple of memories. The first memory is of crayons, and I will bet that most of you have similar memories. When I was in elementary school, my mother would buy me the box of 24 Crayola crayons. Maybe even the box of 48 crayons. But all of the kids were always hoping for the Holy Grail -- that great big box of 64 Crayola crayons -- with the built-in sharpener on the back, I might add. Any kid who brought that to school was the envy of all of his or her classmates. Of course, these days, they might not be envied as much. I was in Target recently, and I saw a package from Crayola that had 150 crayons in a telescoping plastic tower. I'm guessing that those are 150 different colors; I wonder what all of those colors are. And if that had been around back when I was using crayons, I know I would have wanted one of those just as much as I had desired the the 64-count box.
The other memory comes from when I started fourth grade. As I said earlier, we didn't get our list of school supplies until the first day of school. The one thing that stands out in my mind about that year's list was a couple of lines at the very bottom of the list. It stated most emphatically -- in capital letters, if I'm not mistaken -- NO ballpoint pens, NO felt-tip pens, and NO markers of any kind. My fourth-grade self didn't have the right vocabulary to put into words the thought running through my mind when I saw that prohibition. My adult self, though, knows quite well what I was thinking: "Why are they getting their panties in a wad over this?" I should point out that this restriction probably didn't make it through October; I remember that most of my classmates (myself included) were using ballpoint and felt-tip pens well before Christmas.
This year, Staples offered a discount pass. For $10, customers could buy a card for a 15% discount on all school supplies. Only school supplies, though; you couldn't use the discount on a computer. I got a pass, and I have to say that it has been a good investment. Just on purchases that I was already planning to make, the discount has covered the cost of the pass. And it is still good through the middle of September.
Now I find myself wondering if my niece and nephew have any particular interesting memories of going back to school. I may have to ask them whenever I see them.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0399
Yesterday was supposed to be the start of school here in Jefferson County. Thanks to this past weekend's windstorm, it looks like tomorrow will finally be the first day of school. The storm, however, is a topic for another Janus File. This file is about back-to-school shopping.
Am I right in thinking that the stores put the back-to-school displays out a little earlier this year? The past few years, I clearly recall stores stocking their seasonal sections with various school supplies somewhere around Independence Day. This year, I think it was still technically spring when I saw the first hints of binders, pens, and notebooks materializing on the shelves. I don't remember the specific date, but I do know that it was sometime between Flag Day and the summer solstice.
Wow. When I was going to school (admittedly, that was a few million years ago), if school started this week, the back-to-school sections probably would have been in place maybe two weeks ago. Three at the most. We didn't even get our list of school supplies until the first day of school. Then, of course, there was the mad dash to Walgreens, or Target, or wherever to get what was needed.
Seeing the back-to-school shopping has brought back a couple of memories. The first memory is of crayons, and I will bet that most of you have similar memories. When I was in elementary school, my mother would buy me the box of 24 Crayola crayons. Maybe even the box of 48 crayons. But all of the kids were always hoping for the Holy Grail -- that great big box of 64 Crayola crayons -- with the built-in sharpener on the back, I might add. Any kid who brought that to school was the envy of all of his or her classmates. Of course, these days, they might not be envied as much. I was in Target recently, and I saw a package from Crayola that had 150 crayons in a telescoping plastic tower. I'm guessing that those are 150 different colors; I wonder what all of those colors are. And if that had been around back when I was using crayons, I know I would have wanted one of those just as much as I had desired the the 64-count box.
The other memory comes from when I started fourth grade. As I said earlier, we didn't get our list of school supplies until the first day of school. The one thing that stands out in my mind about that year's list was a couple of lines at the very bottom of the list. It stated most emphatically -- in capital letters, if I'm not mistaken -- NO ballpoint pens, NO felt-tip pens, and NO markers of any kind. My fourth-grade self didn't have the right vocabulary to put into words the thought running through my mind when I saw that prohibition. My adult self, though, knows quite well what I was thinking: "Why are they getting their panties in a wad over this?" I should point out that this restriction probably didn't make it through October; I remember that most of my classmates (myself included) were using ballpoint and felt-tip pens well before Christmas.
This year, Staples offered a discount pass. For $10, customers could buy a card for a 15% discount on all school supplies. Only school supplies, though; you couldn't use the discount on a computer. I got a pass, and I have to say that it has been a good investment. Just on purchases that I was already planning to make, the discount has covered the cost of the pass. And it is still good through the middle of September.
Now I find myself wondering if my niece and nephew have any particular interesting memories of going back to school. I may have to ask them whenever I see them.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0399