Cheapo

7.8.25

*My style of writing begins with a journal entry and then turns into a theme. It takes a bit for me to flesh out the idea. Today I will start taking off my beginning and just get into the meat and potatoes. If you listen to my podcast the whole thing will be there.

My son and I went to cheapo in Blaine the other day. This was the first time I went there. It was really interesting to be looking at CDs but then take a moment to look across the building and observe the customers.

It reminded me of how things were in the 80's. Shopping was about items sort of. To me it was more about people watching. Without even realizing it you weren't just going shopping for an item, you were taking time to observe the world. Perhaps at that age I was hoping to find love at first sight. I have always been a romantic. Hoping at that age that you would glance up and some hot guy your same age would be glancing up at the same time. You would have a moment of connection, even if for a moment.

When I looked up as an almost 50-year-old woman, I noticed folks around my age or slightly older, very immersed in looking for their favorite bands. I was surprised at how busy the store was! Obviously, it wasn't the same as it was in the 80's. Back when if you wanted to listen to your favorite artist on demand, you had to buy the album. We didn't have Spotify.

I liked the music store. It was how we shopped back in my day. I liked the setting out a period of time to see what we could find. Like a treasure hunt. We weren't going on Amazon and buying exactly what we wanted. We were putting in time to scavenger hunt and we might walk away yearning. That was ok. There is delight in delay. We can go another day.

I found that they had a movie soundtrack section. Jack pot. I love movie soundtracks. Do you think I would walk away empty handed? Hell no. I found the soundtrack "Stealing Beauty". I loved the movie and didn't really remember if I liked the music. So, it was really a wild card purchase. That is the excitement. For $4.95 I was willing to take a chance. Sure, I could have gone on Spotify really quick to hear the music really quick. But where is the fun in that? There isn't. I ended up listening to it while making my lunch yesterday. Fucking great soundtrack. I didn't even look at the artists on it before my purchase. But there were some big ones on there. It has a jazzy, hazy vibe. Chill factor is high on this soundtrack. Love it! Liz Phair, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday...

I also bought a few others that I haven't listened to that I can comment on later when I have time. Stay tuned...

I thought about the store the next morning. Without places like that, where would all those CD's go? Probably the landfill. I'm so happy the used CD's there will find homes. I love that some of the newer generations are finding the joy in tangible music. Music that you physically own and you can touch the album cover and get to know the artist in a better way.

On the back walls they actually have tapes! Thinking about tapes, which I grew up listening to tapes primarily, I think about tapes getting eaten in your player. I listened to Tori Amos's first album so much that I had to purchase her tape 3 times. I think about running and having a tape player belted to my body. What about mix tapes? Did you make them for your friends or boyfriends? Would I go back to tapes? Probably not.

I definitely became a CD girl. I eventually had a CD player that I again went running with. Hopefully you liked the music choice because you were stuck with it LOL. No shuffling for you!

My son took a few days and ended up cataloging all my CDs on a spreadsheet. Yep. My son loves music. He is starting his own CD collection. I think it is super cool. He enjoys playing an album in its entirety. I love how he is on a quest for certain artists. Some of which he learned to love based on what he found in my collection. Paramore is one of them. He also owns a few vinyls but he doesn't want to go completely vinyl because of the cost. I agree they are expensive. I saw an album, brand new, The Pink Pony Club singer, for almost 70 dollars at Cheapo! They have both new and used BTW.

They even have buttons, magnets, posters, patches, and key chains. Oh, and movies. I looked at the movie Breakin'. I was going to get it if it was 5$. Nope. It was $29.99. Too rich for my blood.

Anyway, it was a fun outing. We were in there for a while LOL. It was one of those TIMELESS moments. I can't wait to go again. I kind of like treasure hunting.

Have a lovely day filled with surprises! Love, Alimoon