Many people today, for the most part, really have never learned how to cook. At least that is what I see and hear.

Ann is my second and final wife. But Ann and my ex never learned how to cook at home. Nor did my sisters or brother. Ann's sisters think they can cook. But not really. Not in the way our parents cod.

I shop for food every week. How many times I see a person pick up something only to hear her (or him) turn to the person they are with and say something along the lines of "but what would I do with it?".

When I was a little boy growing up on the south side of Chicago I would do shopping on Saturday mornings with my Grandfather. First was the corner store for things like bread, coffee, sugar, etc.. Then to 26th street. We would hit the veg./fruit market. One entire city block (both sides of the street) of nothing but veggie and fruit stands and shops. Then on to the butcher. Saw dust on the floor. Gramps would order the meat and the butcher would always add a package of "dog meat" for Grandpa's dog (free). All meat was cut fresh while we waited. Grandma would grind her own hamburger and make Italian sausage too.

Then off to get the fish. WHOLE FISH. 2 blocks of fish on ice. At 6 years old I was taught how to select a fresh fish by Gramps. I must admit, I hated the smell of that street! LOLA.

Grandpa would help Grandma grind meat, make sausage, etc..

Then came A&P, then National, then Jewel. Everything you needed in one store. The butcher, veg stands, and fish mongers could not compete with the prices the chains could sell for and went away. And later, so did quality.

When the big grocery stores came they had one frozen food isle. The only T.V. dinners were turkey and pot pies.

Today, the frozen section of pre-made food is larger than all of the "fresh" sections put together. 

You not only smiled at the people you lived next door to across the fence, but stopped what you were doing in order to chat.

You grew tomatoes. Not because they were so expensive to buy, but as a matter of taste and pride. You shared them with the folks next door as they shared the peppers they grew with you.

And Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and the people next door and down the street COOKED. And we learned.

The milk man would come with milk and juice. The knife man would come for your knives and return them a few days later razor sharp. You knew your mail man's name.

Women went to the salon and ensured that not one hair was ever out of place. And to gossip.

Men went to the barber to get a hair cut. Not to a stylist to get a perm and a comb. And gossip too!

The good old day were not always good. Tomorrow is not as bad as it seems. And we live in today.

But sometimes it is a good thing to remember those good old days. If not for any other reason than to remember just how good most of it was. And to pay it forward to our children, our grand children, and the person at the store who asks "What would I do with it?".