My palms were sweaty. I had been sitting there for two hours and was starting to suspect that my name would never be called. When I had first arrived, the row of chairs lined up against the wall across from the long row of cash registers were each filled with a hopeful candidate, waiting for a final interview with a store manager. Now, they were all empty and I was sitting alone against the wall wearing my suit with a copy of my meager resume sitting lap with a mixture of dread and embarrassment welling up in my stomach. My resume was printed on fine paper and tucked into a crisp folder with the word “Resume” printed in gold font across the front; embellishments that I hoped would show how much I wanted the job and overcome the content of my resume which showed my complete lack of experience at well, anything. I was 19 and I needed a job. The camp where I had been working the year previously had shuttered my department and I knew that my income from my beginning violin lessons and whatever random computer repair work I could find would not provide for my immediate needs let alone, allow me to buy a car or move forward in life. 

Finally, a supervisor came over and asked me what I was doing there. It turned out someone had made a mistake somewhere and my name wasn’t on the list to be interviewed that day, but it was still on the list of names to be interviewed. The interview the next week was all but a formality earning me a job making a couple of dollars more than minimum wage stocking and cleaning the shelves at my favorite store, a veritable Shangri La for nerds in the 90s and 00s, Fry’s Electronics.  

Fry’s announced that they were closing their doors permanently this past week, and I’m frankly surprised they made it this long. Their outdated model and legendarily bad customer service finally pushed them into the dumpster of history. 

As a kid, trips to Fry’s were the stuff of legend, not only did they have aisle after aisle of computer parts that I would pinch pennies (plus rebate) to purchase in the vain hope that they bring my hand-me-down computer up to spec to play the latest games. They also had all manner of wonders from transistors to telescopes. Fry’s was the ultimate gadget store. But for me, it was more than that. It was an invaluable teacher. For the sheltered kid with no secular work experience, it was a portal to a world I did not understand. I had worked on the sales floor for 10 minutes when I learned a new expression “FUBAR”, and that it contained a word I had never heard before. I learned that hard work will earn you the respect of the people around you, that hard work must be tempered with wisdom, and that sometimes, a system can be rigged against you and no matter how hard you work, you can’t overcome it and that quitting out of principle sometimes is the best course of action. So thanks for the memories and lessons Fry’s, I’ll miss you, but I won’t miss your childish requirement to show my receipt at the door every time I left the building. 

Commentary from the bleachers — 

— This may be old news to most people, but I saw this week that Starbucks announced that they are closing 500 stores and moving from urban locations with seating to suburban locations focused on takeout and drive-through. As someone who has spent 1000s of hours working from seating in various Starbucks over the years, I hope they don’t get rid of the indoor seating completely. One day the world will go back to normal and the hustle and bustle of a busy coffee shop is one of the best sounds in the world. 

— Bill Gates has been talking about nuclear power recently and has some good ideas. Based on the issues we had last in Texas, maybe it’s an idea whose time has come.