seven eleven

my father once asked me why there are locks
on the doors of the seven elevens of the world,
if they are open twenty-four hours a day
seven days a week.

I told him I didn't know.

how could an eight year old boy know that it is seven eleven's
policy to lock its doors after an armed robbery,
in order to take a complete inventory?

to an eight year old boy of my generation,
seven eleven meant upper-deck hockey cards,
crispy crunch bars and punisher comics.
and lets not forget slurpees,
seven eleven’s trademark beverage.

when I asked my father why it is called
seven eleven, he told me that,
when he was an eight year old boy,
seven eleven meant candies that cost a penny,
soda cans with the old pull-tab top,
and milk in glass bottles.

he said that in the days of one cent candies
and pull-tabs and milk in glass bottles,
convenience meant that one could purchase
these items from early in the morning, to late at night.
from 7am to 11pm.
someone being awake at two in the morning
and in need of such commodities
wasn’t even a concept in the minds of the store’s management,
or anyone else for that matter.

‘the only people awake at that hour
are heathens and homeless,’
said the post-sixties conservative
government skeleton.

but as shiny gadgets got smaller,
cars got bigger,
hockey card collecting
and comic book reading
gave way to the pure nintendo kingdom,
seven eleven ceased to be just that.


it became 24-7.
a… we-never-close-
come-any-time
type of place.
a ubiquitous commodity,
found conveniently, in every developed country,
and in far greater numbers in the under developed ones.


I walked into a 7-11 the other day
and after a brief, but thorough peruse
I could find nothing I wanted.
I guess it struck me rather suddenly;
hockey cards and comic books
and even milk, are all for children.
apart from beer, liquor and cigarettes
(which can be bought anywhere at
anytime by anyone with half a brain)
everything in 7-11 is for children.
children work there and children shop there.
and children spend the billions
that the corporation rakes in each year.

our children
will have children.
who will grow out of seven eleven.
and they, in turn,
will have children that will love it.