Wired Mesh

There's No Times at All, Just the New York Times

You probably already know that the New York Times was founded by Adolph Ochs, a Jewish boy from Cincinnati who first created the Chattanooga Times, then ran off to the big city to change journalism. So this town has a close link to the Newspaper of Record; even the current publisher is related to dear old Adolph, that upstanding Chattanoogan.

Somebody needs to tell that to the Winn-Dixie cashiers around here.

The Winn-Dixie in St. Elmo stocks about three daily copies of the New York Times, in what I can only assume is a concession to the hippies and college professors scattered throughout the neighborhood. Friday morning, I decided to stop in and grab a copy before dropping Ryan off at work. I took the paper to the cashier, who looked at me with parental concern.

"Do you know that this is the New York paper?" she asked me, apparently concerned that I would sit down to breakfast and discover that my paper had no information about TennCare.

"That's why I'm buying it," I said cheerfully.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew," she replied.

I had forgotten about the conversation until this morning, when I ran into the Winn-Dixie in Hixson (City of Romance) to use the ATM and grab a pack of Camels. While paying for the cigarettes, I asked the cashier, "Do you have a copy of the New York Times?"

"The time?" she answered. "It's 25 minutes before nine. Have a nice day."

Sigh.

In other news, my office e-mail server is down. I feel very isolated, marooned in the Medical Mall.

Posted by mesh at January 19, 2004 11:36 AM | TrackBack