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Brent Dollins's avatar

I read this post with one of those tumblers sitting here on the desk.

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Rob "Flack" O'Hara's avatar

Me too! You'll notice the red one in that picture has a drink in it...

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Sheila (of Ephemera)'s avatar

Just seeing those red tumblers takes me back, Rob! I have this similar experience when I am thrifting for clothes- when I find something I remember I want to tell people, “Hey, I wore this shirt in 1982!” Ha, no one cares.

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Rob "Flack" O'Hara's avatar

This is a long story but about three years ago our old next door neighbor passed away. We moved next door to their family in the mid-70s so my dad and this woman have been neighbors for about 45 years. I grew up climbing their trees, playing in their backyard, and attending many slumber parties there. When she passed away they had an estate sale. I remember walking around in a daze in the backyard, pointing and saying things like "I USED TO CLIMB THAT TREE" to random people attending the sale. I must have looked like a lunatic.

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Sheila (of Ephemera)'s avatar

Nah, we all do it. Those places hold memories and meaning for us. 💕

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Mike Boody's avatar

Man those frosted red tumblers some how made Coke taste the way it was meant to. Makes me sad these days whenever I pass an old Pizza Hut that still has its "shell". I just think, "How many Little League end-of-season parties took place under that roof?"

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Rob "Flack" O'Hara's avatar

I worked at three different Pizza Hut locations. One of them was called a DelCo which is short for "DELivery/Carry Out" only. Even though it looked like a traditional "red roof" building from the outside, the owner had walled off the dining room (delivery and carry out are way more profitable). The cool thing was, there was a door that still led to the dining room (which we mostly used for storage) but the entire dining room was still there -- booths, tables, even the ceiling lamps. I used to go out there on my break and read. It was like sitting alone inside an old Pizza Hut that time forgot.

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Mike Boody's avatar

So wild. That's what it was like for me that time my wife taught a summer camp class in an old shopping mall. The theater had rented a store space there. I'd go wait for her to finish and just sit outside in the food court.

I like to think of all these buildings you pass on the street -- totally anonymous warehouses, but inside are rows and rows of decor for defunct stores and restaurants as well as future Cracker Barrels.

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