Friday marks five years for us.  Celebrate with us!

Anniversaries can be tricky when you are in a relationship that has no legal status.  There's the day we met, our first date, our first kiss, the day we became exclusive, the day we moved in together, or even the day we had our domestic partnership officially registered with the City to tap into those benefits.  Soon, we'll have the day we become part of the Citywide Domestic Partner Registry. 

Lots of days to pick from.  All of them important in their own way, but none of which has any social recognition anywhere near the degree that heterosexual marriages receive.  No one in our mutual families can name our anniversary and none of them have ever asked, even as we've participated in celebrating theirs.  No cards or gifts or registries.  No vowel renewals.  Just the occasional question if we plan to go to California and the odd reference to events that took place before we coupled.  That's it. 

I'm spending our anniversary at Kennywood.  We'll have some fries and some funnel cake, then hold hands in the scary rides.  Our real celebration will come with a fall trip to Cleveland.  Ledcat gets to tour the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.  I get cable for three whole days.  And room service. 

Five years of happiness and love.  No acknowledgement needed.

Giant Eagle entrepreneur Bill Bricker is quite the guy.  He is closing the Giant Eagle in Lawrenceville because it isn't profitable and has purchased our corporate owned store on the North Side.  Huh? 

The North Side store had to cost a pretty penny b/c corporate has invested a ton of money to make it well, decent.  It is clean and I have almost gotten to the point of purchasing produce and/or deli meat.  Not yet, but they almost had me with the self-scan registers. 

Now here comes Mr. Bricker with a track record of closing another store in a struggling community after a 4 1/2 year commitment.  What makes our struggling community any different?  Could it be the opportunity to cut corners and take us right back to the days of yore when chaos, nastiness and general upheaval ruled the day?  If the arrival of a nearby Shop n Save made him uncompetitive, why?  What happened?  Why couldn't he keep up?  What happens to us down here when another corporation rolls into the Northside with a grocery store? 

Listen, Mr. Bricker, we want a clean store.  A lot of people depend on that store and most of them are the low-income folks you just screwed in Lawrenceville.  If, to remain profitable, you need those of us who used to shop at MacIntire Square and Camp Horne to continue patronizing our local store, you have to continue the improvements.  I still just come in for quick things, not my major shopping.  And the first corner you cut, I'm out of there. 

I don't hold out any high hopes for Mr. Bricker's plans.  We on the Northside are his "rebound" investment.  I guess he thinks spillover from the NorthShore is a better bet than from Children's Hospital.  Clearly, Mr. Bricker isn't a "community" investment kind of guy.