I will miss: Texas-specific businesses

Welp, sorry for the long break in my posts. Packing, moving, unreliable Internet, yadda yadda yadda. Most of you know I am already in Massachusetts, but I still have quite a few things left that I will miss about Lubbock. And in fact, now that I'm here, I can actually reflect on my lack-of-Lubbock even more.

Today I want to talk about Texas-specific businesses that I will miss, in addition to ranting about Massachusetts businesses that I do not like, i.e. Comcast. I'll try to keep the ranting to a minimum.

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On my very first day in Lubbock back in July 2012 when I came to find a house/apartment, I had the privilege to meet Nina, Mayela, Jackie, Susie, and Brittany, along with Randy, Julie, and Chloe, because Randy happen to be having a staff lunch and he invited me to join them. I was so happy to meet the staff and they started giving me the low down on Lubbock right away. I learned that there was a nice Walmart (82nd and Milwaukee) and a ghetto Walmart (Quaker and the Loop), with two in between, there was a new Target and an old Target, there was a new gastropub that used to be Home Cafe, so many businesses were closed on Sunday and Monday, and perhaps most importantly, in the words of Chloe, "Market Street is amazing!" I did not fully understand the gravity and truth of these words until a month later when I moved to Lubbock permanently. I love Market Street.

For those of you that don't know, Market Street is simply the local grocery store. It is a slightly upscale version of the United Supermarkets chain with a great built-in restaurant and cafe for dine-in or take out. But the appeal of Market Street is so much more. The produce, the salad bar, the variety of products, the prices, and of course, the free samples. Walking around Market Street on a Saturday afternoon is a smorgasbord of delights. Not to mention, the staff. I love the people who work at Market Street. I know they are instructed to be friendly, but like, they really sell it. I used to love this one guy at the fish counter. Not that I ever bought fish, but he always said, "Hello, how are you doing today?" in the most genuine way. (Plus it helps that he was so cute!) Beyond that, I just loved the cashiers and baggers and pharmacists and shelf stockers. It is just a fantastic store.

I have a Stop and Shop and two Big Y supermarkets very close to me. They are just meh. The produce sucks, the staff is not very polite, and the prices. Holy fuck, the prices! After living in Indiana for 7 years and Texas for 2 years, mama needs to readjust to East Coast prices, but that is the topic of another post.

I will say, though, I never liked the carry out tradition/policy. This is partly because I always felt like it was so servile and I should tip them, and there were two dudes at the Market Street on Indiana and 50th that I couldn't stand! (This one that claimed to be on the Tech tennis team even though he was like 35 and a old guy that always judged my products and bitched about Obama.) I loved the high school kids, though, and the whole mission for Market Street to be teaching kids better socialization skills.

Overall, I miss Market Street, a lot.

A few other Texas business that I grew to love include, Spec's. For non-Texans, Spec's is like Christmas for drinkers. I admit it, I like to imbibe a few beers, wines, cocktails, etc. I have gone to three liquor stores in Westfield so far (don't judge), and they all just feel like dark and seedy, and smell faintly like frat house. Spec's is totally different. Spec's is just the most bright, clean, beautiful liquor store that I have ever seen. The first time I walked in it was like I heard the angels singing, hand to God moment, all that jazz. I spent like $65 in my first Spec's visit. I swear they have like every type of booze you could reasonably want, including obscure/rare brands, and if they don't have it, they will gladly order it for you. And the prices are fucking phenomenal, i.e. $32 for a bottle of BH, you get rewards with your free Spec's card, and they even offer that 5% discount if you pay with cash or debit. Everyone knows the expression, "Everything is bigger in Texas." This is neither true, nor advantageous, in certain cases. But in the case of Spec's, Texas did the liquor store right.


Oddly enough, I also miss Raising Cane's. Now I know this is pretty random, but I fricking loved Raising Canes. FYI, this is just a chicken place. They only sell chicken tenders, crinkle fries, coleslaw, dipping sauce, and beverages. And to be honest, about 90% of my obsession is with the sauce. I looked up some recipes for Cane's copycat sauce and I just know they won't be the same. I will definitely be getting a big ol' Caniac the next time I'm in Texas. (Whataburger on the other hand, I can take it or leave it. Mostly I like the late hours and people watching. I have a few fond Whataburger memories. Mostly with Hannah and Val, less with Patrick and Jud. Still, I prefer Cane's any day or night.)

 
And finally, as of this week, I miss Sudden Link. I know Sudden Link is a big corporation and they have a monopoly just like every other cable company, but they were better than Comcast. Admittedly that bar is low. Like limbo low. But they are remarkably better. First of all, their installation and service was immediate. And in fact, I remember in my first conversation with the Sudden Link rep, I was so jaded. I had just gotten off the phone with Comcast a few days earlier and then had claimed I signed up for a 2-year contract, even though I would have never done that because I highly expected to be moving out of Indiana in the new year, and they were charging me a $200 cancellation/early termination fee. So I was seething with rage toward cable companies as a whole. I assumed Sudden Link was the same, but after all my snarky comments on the phone, the local Sudden Link director called me personally to ensure that Sudden Link was not Comcast. I had great service the entire time. And it cost less than half of what Comcast does now. LESS THAN HALF! The joke is that you need to take out an extra mortgage to have cable. And seriously, no one is happy with Comcast. Literally everyone you ask either says, "Comcast is the worst," or they can't afford them. Regardless, I want cable and Internet. I'm not fucking getting rid of cable, so can it. I like cable. I like the surprise and variety. And frankly, the choice should not be to (1.) Over pay for terrible service or (2.) Go without. I hate Comcast. I miss Sudden Link.

I am excited to have Cumby's and Friendly's and Dunkin back, but I will miss many Texas businesses. Did I forget any?