Bring Back Special (or keep it where it exists...)

It's occurred to me more than once that I miss the sense of something being "special" that I grew up with. That thing or experience that was only available infrequently and whose appearance would create excitement. And the anticipation of it's arrival was almost as pleasant as the thing or experience itself. In my family one such special thing was Coke and 7-Up.

Suppliers or vendors to my the company where my father worked as a bookkeeper would send holiday gifts to him. I suppose it was to thank him for sending their checks promptly. I never really thought about why he would bring home the gifts. There were hams and towels (yes, bath towel sets) and more. But the one I appreciated the most was the company that sent a case of 12 oz bottles (green glass of course) of Coca-Cola and another case of 7-Up. These were as sure a sign of the Christmas season as the lights on the street or the tree in the living room. 

Once a year I indulged in drinking soft drinks that were never in the house other times. Or if they were I didn't know about it. Having a glass of Coke was as much a treat as opening gifts on Christmas eve. I would open bottles for my parents to pour glasses for the aunts and uncles who visited then but not during the year. Or to add to the occasional mixed drink that called for them. And my mother would make a wonderful 7-Up cake. The cases of Coke and 7-Up meant that visits were coming; that a turkey dinner wasn't far off and that the year was coming to a close. All these special memories just from two cases of soft drinks. The gifts went on until he retired...more than 15 years that I remember and possibly longer. 

Today I can have a Coke whenever I want. Wherever I want. It's nothing special. And more's the pity. Few things seem to really be special in a world of worldwide brands and franchises. Of sameness and uniformity. Maybe that's why the idea of maintaining the unique character of this place where I've elected to plant myself is so much a part of my thinking. Keeping the specialness of this "here" and not looking to yet another "there". I do worry though. It seems that to many people it is comforting to see the same things no matter where they go. And putting them in special places when they are not there....so that the place becomes nothing special.