Thank you for my 7-11

Again, dear reader, I may have woven this tale before but I can’t find it and in almost 460 stories one gets a bit lost. However, here is the tale entitled


“Thank you for my 7-11”

In the mid 70’s, my neighbor, an American industrialist, sort of, had a nearby factory. Somewhere not far away there was a little, unnoticed industrial park, left over from another time. The city knew they were there and had subdivided it over the years to make way for new roads and residential, suburban living. I mean, my house was from the late 1800’s, as were many of my neighbors. However, suburban expansion developed in a post war economy and my semi rural area gentrified a bit. The factories, nestled in the woods, remained. So my neighbor had a short trip to work in the morning.

Looking out of his office window each morning, he watched as workers cleared land across the street, built a foundation, and began to build a building. The curious people like myself watched each morning as we drove to work and wondered, beyond our imagination, what was that going to be? It was on a busy sort of corner which eliminated houses, so what was it?

You have guessed by now, it was a 7-11, waiting for its new owner. When completed and the signage was installed my neighbor called 7-11 headquarters and thanked them for his new 7-11. It seems the new road subdivided his property and whoever searched the title failed to recognize that the land on which they were building, and had purchased from someone or another, was not for sale. It belonged, it seems, to the factory across the street!