July 2020 by Ben A.
Stopover in Dickinson, ND and needed a few odds and ends from the grocery store. Earlier today, we found a Starbucks here, and returned after a day at the nearby National Park to pick up some items. It is fascinating to drive cross-country and see all the ways our country's citizens are the same, and the ways we're different. In all the years we've been heading up here on summer road trips, no time has been more profound in that compare and contrast than during the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon entering the store, there's some signage about wearing a mask, and the usual CDC boilerplate about social distancing. Someone wrote on the mask signs: "This is a suggestion!" and most of the patrons and employees aren't wearing masks; guessing that masks in a place like North Dakota is probably not as big of a deal as, say, Los Angeles or Atlanta. Yet. Anyhow, the supermarket has all the bells, whistles, and moving parts you'd expect. They don't have any Brie, but I only know that because it seems it's all my daughter eats anymore. Also, they're out of buttermilk. What can I say? We're Lithuanian, we like dairy products... Their small-town charm shines through with the sale of local high school merchandise. Go... Midgets? Cool-- and kudos that no one has been offended yet and created a Change.org to get a different mascot, as far as I know. If I lived here, I'd shop here.