The Giant Eagle: The Native Americans consider the bald eagle and the golden eagle to be sacred. As eagles are the highest-flying birds they were seen to be nearer to the Creator. The meaning of the Eagle symbol was to signify courage, wisdom and strength and its purpose was as the messenger to the Creator. In the city of Pittsburgh, there is a major Supermarket chain titled The Giant Eagle (translated in Pittsburghese, it is called the GINT, IGLE, perhaps more in step with the Native American pronunciation). My family ONLY shopped at the Giant Eagle, and back in the day, my mother also had her favorite Meat Dept Man, George, who provided my siblings with free pieces of Hebrew National salami and baloney, and my mother’s favorite Cashier, Loretta, who at the time would provide my mother with a few extra Green Stamps! I left my hometown of Pittsburgh when I finally realized out loud I was actually a Gay man, I think back in the day I used the term homosexual. I ran away from some kind of invented phobia, that being Gay was a bad thing…but as I reflect, back to the day, IT WAS MORE THEN my issue, but a problem insecure member of my community held as a horrible condition! Perhaps I was the coward but Coming Out is a whole different blog…this one IS about Super Markets!
Whenever my mother would come and visit me, no matter which community I loved and worked as a JCC employee, the first thing my mother wanted to do, was to visit ALL of the Grocery Stores. (Yep, the priority for sight-seeing with regards towards my mother, was to compare and contrast HER Giant Eagle with any other Super Market, in whatever city I resided. Easy, breezy, for her first day’s itinerary. My mother was not a crazy lady, but for those who were raised in Pittsburgh, the Giant Eagle (GINT IGLE) is the Lexus of Super Markets. It made my mother happy to find some issue with the Supermarkets in my city, and if that made her happy on her first day, I was satisfied!
I shop at a Super Market called Pavilions. To be exact it is THE Pavilions in West Hollywood, and prior to its first remodel, was nicknamed the Disco Pavilions, the Gay Pavilions, and the Cruisy Pavilions. All was true and walking the aisles back in the day was like being in a Gay Bar. Today there are more heterosexuals, but cruising is still as important as the price of whatever product you were shopping for. But this afternoon, I felt, once again that the loneliness of the world, the selfishness of the world, found its way to my heart, and I grew sad. An elderly man, maybe even my age, who spoke little English was standing in the Express Line, the 14 or under, line, and he had at least 25 Marie Callender fast food dinners. Two men, in front of me, could not stop rolling their eyes, and thought that whispering really loud, was okay…(many times some Gay men become bitchy and obnoxious), they complained to one another that 14 is not 25. The customer, who hardly spoke English, then goodness had no idea the harsh criticism was direct AT him. He was bent over and carried four bags of food with him and walked out the door. The BOYS in front of me sashayed away and the cashier apologized to me for the older man. I becoming Mother Teresa said, no worries. By the time I made it to the sidewalk, the older man was still bent over, schlepping his bags. I offered to help him to the bus stop which was about 10 feet away. He looked at me and nodded his head, and then he said, you don’t think I am a joke?
I shook my head NO, walked silently to the bus stop…and this sudden urge of missing my mother overwhelmed me…and I grew sad!
