Hardesty’s

Inside Out is kicking my tail.

But I need a break from it today.

I told you I had met someone on our last-minute trip a few weeks back. His name is Frank and I want to adopt him.

He owns a small grocery store/butcher shop in Oklahoma.

Oh my word. My sis-in-law knew I would love this place and she was right.

It had one of those old-fashioned Brach’s Pick-A-Mix things as soon as you walk in.

See? Remember those?

And look at the tile. Totally original.

Holding a photo of the original owners

This is Frank. He’s owned the store for 30-some years. He worked here as a teenager and later bought it. When I asked if he was the owner, he goes, “Yep. There are 4 things we do here:

1. We still sell on credit [He then showed me rows of receipt books with people’s names on them under the cash register.] People can pay once a week, once a month, whatever works for them.

2. We are not open on Sundays or holidays.

3. We still give away free air for tires.

4. We still deliver groceries for free. We have a lot of widows who can’t drive anymore and live in apartments and it’s hard for them to get out. So we deliver to them. They took care of us all those years as we grew, so now we take care of them.”

I asked permission to take his picture. When I said, “Smile!” he goes, “But I ain’t got no teeth!”

He also told us how he has the IRS on speed dial, and he’s on a first-name basis with them. He mentioned, “You make a lot of mistakes through the years, but they’ve worked with me.”

When some customers walked in they greeted him with a, “Hi Frank! How are you?”

He replied, “Busier than a one-legged grave digger.”

“That’s pretty busy.”

“Yeah, but it keeps me hoppin!”

Seriously? I’m so happy this place exists.