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<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">Phil</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">Grace Brothers had better customer service than
that which has been quoted in these exchanges but even that did not save
them.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">Changing times. People are people but the
times they are a changing--and always will.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Gothic">Dwight</FONT></DIV>
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style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=pcc_sr@yahoo.com href="mailto:pcc_sr@yahoo.com">PC</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org
href="mailto:pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org">Western PA Trolley
discussion</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, October 28, 2013 8:09
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [PRCo] Burning Leaves--and
Coal</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>This is not unlike what Mr.Rathke says: "We all have our
computer stories."<BR>We all have our retail horror stories. People are
people world wide.<BR>People are people in the high-society stores as
well. It is beneath<BR>their dignity to serve a commoner isn't it.
TV sitcoms are made of such.<BR>Dad always said: "It takes two to
Tango."<BR>Such stories are never one-sided are they.<BR><BR>This speaks more
of prejudice doesn't it, and even more strongly of exaggeration.<BR>This list
trains one to overlook--no, to dismiss, the vast majority written.<BR>There is
also a 'good ol' boys' network: "I'll slap your back if you slap my
back."<BR>It goes on and on doesn't it.<BR><BR>Another old saying of
yore: "When in Rome do as Romans do." 'Inexpensive'<BR>works very
nicely doesn't it. But one can not see the 'sophistication' unless<BR>we
speak multiple foreign languages and, of course, denigrate our own
country.<BR>Why not move? It is the wife-thing. "I would, of
course, but she does not want<BR>so to do. Family, you
know."<BR><BR>With all the evidence here in this email alone let alone in the
list in general<BR>maybe dancing with the stars is where one could
excel. The messages may<BR>contain good information but it is difficult
to find with all the two-stepping.<BR>Answering a question sees comments all
around the topic but never addressing same.<BR><BR>As a good friend would say
to end his conversation: "And on we go!"<BR>Maybe that is: "On and
on
and:"<BR><BR><BR>PC<BR><BR><BR><BR>--------------------------------------------<BR>On
Sun, 10/27/13, Herb Brannon <<A
href="mailto:hrbran@cavtel.net">hrbran@cavtel.net</A>>
wrote:<BR><BR> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Burning Leaves--and Coal<BR> To:
"Western PA Trolley discussion" <<A
href="mailto:pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org">pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org</A>><BR> Date:
Sunday, October 27, 2013, 9:31 AM<BR> <BR> You know Fred, you sure
know how to "baffle with b.s."<BR> <BR> <BR> On Sun, Oct 27,
2013 at 12:16 PM, Fred Schneider <<A
href="mailto:fwschneider@comcast.net>wrote">fwschneider@comcast.net>wrote</A>:<BR> <BR> >
Herb, I am not insulting Adam<BR> Gimbel. I am using "cheap" in the
English<BR> > language sense, not the way the American's
have<BR> adulterated it to mean<BR> > "crappy" or "no good". It
means<BR> economical, as in the "cheap day return<BR> > ticket"
in Britain … translated means the bargain one<BR> day round trip
ticket.<BR> ><BR> > Gimbels was the cheap (bargain) store but
they were not<BR> in a position to<BR> > compete with the likes
of WalMart and it this area they<BR> were the first<BR> >
department store to fold. If I had to<BR> make a comparison, it would be
the<BR> > British Home Store … yes I have a favorite shirt
with<BR> a BHS label. That's<BR> > what happens when you
vacationed so many times in<BR> Britain.<BR> ><BR> >
Sadly, Gimbels was not only the economical store but<BR> locally they had
some<BR> > of the worst help too. He could not<BR> stay in
business when WalMart or<BR> > K-Mart had no help and he was paying
for<BR> doofuses. I remember one day I<BR> > went into the
Gimbels store to buy something for my<BR> wife. A friend
who<BR> > was a PennDOT attorney was with me. He<BR> had just
returned from a vacation<BR> > in Japan. I could not get any of
the<BR> sales girls to wait on me. They<BR> > were all having a
hen party. So I lead Gareth<BR> over until we were within<BR> >
hearing range of the goofing off sales clerks, and then<BR> looked at him
and<BR> > said, "Is it true what you told me … that in
Japan<BR> the sales clerks<BR> > actually are hired to wait on
the<BR> customers?" He played it to the hilt<BR> > and those
girls went balistic. How<BR> dare you insult them by expecting
them<BR> > to work. They told us off at full<BR> volume. And
naturally, we went to<BR> > another store in the mall. I think
I<BR> saw some other customers evacuating<BR> > Adam Gimbel's
store.<BR> ><BR> > I think there were some other
problems<BR> too. Each region operated<BR> > independently. My
charge card for<BR> Gimbels in Lancaster was only good in<BR> >
the Philadelphia region stores. It was<BR> not valid in Pittsburgh
or<BR> > Chicago. It might get immediate<BR> clearance for a
temporary card there but<BR> > I had to apply there if I wanted
credit.<BR> ><BR> > Of course, doesn't matter. They
are<BR> gone.<BR> ><BR> > Saks? No such
thing<BR> here. Nearest is in King of<BR> Prussia. And
I<BR> > never heard of a Barneys…. New York store isn't
it?<BR> ><BR> > Lancaster County, Pa., was an area that
thrived<BR> through the 1980s and<BR> > then crashed. For many
years we had<BR> lower wage rates than the national<BR> >
average, which means it isn't the place people who want<BR> really high
wages<BR> > come but it might be where a corporation wants to
come<BR> to build a factory.<BR> > All through the 1960s, 1970s,
1980s,<BR> one company after another came here<BR> > to exploit
the cheap labor and the "Amish work<BR> ethic." The result was
a<BR> > doubling of the population from 1950 to 2000.
But<BR> when you stress the<BR> > local economy and push the
unemployment rate down to<BR> half the national<BR> >
unemployment rate (it was actually as low here as 1.4<BR> percent in the
summer<BR> > of 1964), that puts extreme pressure on<BR> wages.
They rose. Unions become<BR> > popular. So popular that one by
one<BR> the factories close and the<BR> > corporations decide we
don't don't need this<BR> shit. This was a major<BR> > garment
manufacturing center … all those plants<BR> closed. Roughly
10,000<BR> > shoe, garment and textile jobs<BR> vanished. Those
jobs went first to Mexico<BR> > under the North American Free Trade
Agreement and then<BR> to China and<BR> > southeast Asia. A lot
of recreational<BR> vehicle plants were built here in<BR> > the
1980s … we decided fuel is too expensive to tow<BR> those trailers so
those<BR> > plant closed. Armstrong once employed<BR> several
thousand people here making<BR> > linoleum and other resilient floor
coverings …. they<BR> still do it but in<BR> > right-to-work
states and in new plants on one<BR> floor. In the 1960s RCA
had<BR> > about 3000 people building color TV sets here and
in<BR> Wilkes-Barre; then<BR> > they were introduced to Sony.
Hamilton<BR> Watch used to employ almost 2000<BR> > people making
watches … no one wants quality watches<BR> … the last remnant
of<BR> > the company was sold to a Swiss firm … they're
"out<BR> of here" and the<BR> > building is an apartment now. We
still<BR> have manufacturing but its about<BR> > half the number
of workers we had in that sector in<BR> 1970. We now have<BR> >
unemployment over 6% and routine shootings and<BR> burglaries as a means
of<BR> > supporting each other … it's called income<BR> transfer.
We no longer have<BR> > any upper end stores. We don't have
as<BR> many upper income people today.<BR> > I guess they're in
Dallas today. But<BR> at my age, no reason to
move.<BR> ><BR> > The sad thing about the crash here, Herb,
was unlike<BR> Pittsburgh, it<BR> > affected a young population
to begin<BR> with. When steel went down in 1982<BR> > in
Pittsburgh, it wasn't something new. They<BR> already had 20 years
of<BR> > on-again, off-again problems with the mills.
<BR> Allegheny County's population<BR> > was relatively stable
after 1930 in the 1.4 to 1.6<BR> million range. It<BR> > actually
began dropping from 1.629 million in 1960 to<BR> 1.450 million
before<BR> > the big collapse of steel in 1982 … the kids
were<BR> already leaving home and<BR> > going where the jobs
were. You cannot<BR> have really high unemployment when<BR> >
people go directly from working to pensions … they<BR> are out of the
labor<BR> > force.<BR> ><BR> > But Lancaster was still
growing rapidly when our crash<BR> came. We had<BR> > 212,000 in
1940 and 423,000 in 1990 when things began<BR> to soften, 471,000
in<BR> > 2000 and 519,000 in 2010. Part of the<BR> anomaly of a
tapering economy along<BR> > with growth is that we have also found
ourselves within<BR> commuting distance<BR> > of Philadelphia's
suburban job market and now the same<BR> for the
northeastern<BR> > suburbs of Baltimore. For a while,<BR> until
the state began to decide they<BR> > didn't want workers, the
northwestern part of this<BR> county was also<BR> > attractive
for people working in the state capital …<BR> only 20 minutes
away<BR> > on the train. Trouble is, Herb, if<BR> that guy gets
laid off in Philadelphia<BR> > he is still among the 6.5% unemployed
in<BR> Lancaster. And, as you can see<BR> > from those numbers,
we have over 50,000 homes built in<BR> the last 40 years ….<BR> >
not the same as someone who built a house in<BR> Pittsburgh in 1935.
When<BR> > you have a couple who built a house in 1990 and
the<BR> area crashes and they<BR> > still have a mortgage, you
have
problems.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Pittsburgh-railways
mailing list<BR><A
href="mailto:Pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org">Pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org</A><BR><A
href="https://mailman.dementix.org/mailman/listinfo/pittsburgh-railways">https://mailman.dementix.org/mailman/listinfo/pittsburgh-railways</A><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
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