Back in my junior year of high school, I got my first real job at Thrifty's with one of my best friends from elementary school. Two years of scooping ice cream, working in the electronics department, and sweeping the aisles after the store closed provided a lot of fond memories. I wanted to share two of them today.
One of them is hobby related. The other isn't.
The year was 1989 and collectors were hunting for Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards. Unfortunately the Thrifty's I worked at didn't have any boxes or packs of Upper Deck. But they had everything else... with an excessive amount of Bowman... which wasn't very popular among our card collecting customers. Even after they were marked down... the sat on the shelves for at least another year or two.
Personally... I liked the set. Sure they were a pain in the butt to store... but they were cheap and the simple design resembled something from the 50's. Can't remember if I ever built a set, but I definitely opened a fair number of 1989 Bowman packs.
Thrifty's also carried Kenner Starting Lineups. Back then... I wasn't super interested in them (like I was in the 90's), but I did purchase a few of them for family members.
1989 Kenner Starting Lineup #NNO
One of them was a 1989 Joe Montana that I gave to my father for either his birthday, Father's Day, or as a Christmas present. He kept it in his office in San Jose and brought it with him to Las Vegas when my parents retired.
He was my mom and dad's favorite football player. They absolutely loved the 49ers... especially during the Montana years.
Speaking of my mom... she was a big reason I was able to work at Thrifty's.
While most of my friends got their driver's license when they turned 16... I waited until I turned 17. Since my friends had cars and licenses, it meant I had a ride and wasn't motivated to get my own. Unfortunately I usually worked the closing shift which meant that I wouldn't get off until 10pm or later. Half the time I'd catch a ride with my buddy... but he didn't always work the same days as me.
That's where my mom comes into the story. She would stay up late whenever I needed a ride, pick me up, and take me home. Eventually she gave me a choice. Get my license or get a new job. I actually did both... but I will always be grateful for her going the extra mile to help me out.
Today she would have celebrated her 90th birthday. Happy Birthday Mom! I miss and love you! Thank you for everything you did for our friends and family!
As for all of you who took the time to read today's post...
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
Extra Innings
2025 Topps Hanger Pack
I'm not sure if you're tired of seeing 2025 Topps flagship posts, but here are the thirty-six cards I pulled from the pack:
Thank you Kerry for hosting another interactive contest and for this generous prize!
8 comments:
Sounds like some good times. Do you still have any Thrifty's stuff? Looks like they were bought out by Rite Aid in the 90's, probably not long after you stopped working there.
My best friend scooped ice cream at our local Thriftys in the early 80's. I hung out there with him a lot. They used to develop film and he was always telling me how they'd go through peoples photos and find some pretty interesting stuff. Good times.
Sounds like you worked hard as a youngster! Was Thriftys a drug store? We did not have those in the Midwest.
Touching story, and extremely relevant to me as my mom was always there for her baby boy (me) no matter what, and she would have celebrated her 91st birthday last week.
I remember Thriftys in the 70s,ice cream cones were a nickel a scoop.
Congrats on the prize. I've never heard of a Thrifty's before. All my baseball cards as a kid came from my local CVS store. I still get a wave of nostalgia by the smell of any CVS that I enter today!
Great story, Fuji! Thank you for sharing. I'm thinking about how much of my Thrifty's paycheck would have gone to baseball cards and ice cream if I worked there when I was in high school. My conservative estimate is 25%.
Ah yes. Thrifty's ice cream and that iconic cylindrical scooper.
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