In the Year 54 AW

Last week in Chicago, I was sitting at lunch next to a man who's been a pastor almost as long as I've been alive. He was telling the story of his upbringing and his father's business near Springfield, MO. As he was telling his story, he casually used a phrase that was perhaps more insightful than he intended. His father was a shopowner of a small mom-and-pop operation, selling all kinds of household goods. My soft-spoken lunch companion explained, "That was in the days before Walmart."

He didn't mean anything negative against Walmart, and neither do I with this article. He was just explaining the environment of his dad's business. For better or worse, the introduction of stores like Walmart changed that environment drastically. That was back then in the days before Walmart. We are now in the days after Walmart.

Not to pick on Walmart in particular, but he had identified a turning point in our society's history. We could call it a number of things and debate about the exact time and place, and we could use a different example other than Walmart. But using Walmart as our example, we can divide our history into "BW" ("before Walmart") and "AW" ("after Walmart"). His father's shop was active in business, for example, in the year 20 BW. I was born in the year 2 AW. I graduated high school in the year 17 AW. We're now in the year 54 AW.

Back in the BW days, mom-and-pop stores were more the norm. You knew the shopowners, and they knew you. There was not another shop quite like this one anywhere else, and it was your favorite shop of its kind. When you bought your goods, it was always the same clerk, and you know the names of everyone in that clerk's family. Sure, there were Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Wards, too, but they were not necessarily the default stores to go to, and they were often too long of a drive away to just get a toaster.

Now, in the AW days, mom-and-pop stores are more the exception than the norm. Our default is to go to national chain stores, which all look alike and you're checked out by a different clerk almost every time. No one knows your name (or if they do, it's a sign you shop too much!). Depersonalized, probably somewhat cheaper, more selections, and transactional instead of relational.

It's not just our stores - this is more and more our whole society. Education, business, shopping, sports, even church. Transactional instead of relational. We don't go to the store to buy something from someone ... we just go to the store to buy something. Period.

I don't harken for "the good ol' days." I don't want to turn back the clock. But I first just note the sociological significance of "BW" and "AW." Our societal history is bifurcated by institutionalization becoming the norm in every corner of our lives. Second, I note the onus this puts on us to keep life relational. For things to be relational, we must be more intentional.

When I shop, for example, as much as my introverted nature wants to use the automated checkout, I always find a real live clerk, even if I have to wait longer. I try to pick a clerk I've seen before, and I always try to say something to them that has nothing to do with me getting the stuff that I want to buy. I try to favor the mom-and-pop stores, restaurants, and coffeeshops, although I'm not militant about this at all.

I want to remember that people have work and that's important to them. They don't exist for me to get more stuff. They live and breathe and have families. They have joys and stresses. They have bills to pay. Often, they are working during my free time ... which means they can't go out for dinner or go to the movies during the typical times. They deal with ungrateful customers every day. They are criticized for things that aren't even their fault. They are clerks, managers, servers, number crunchers, students, experts about tools or paint or nutrition or health, parents, children, married, single, and most importantly, people who bear the image of God. They have honorable work to do. I can treat them transactionally or relationally. It's my choice.

For those who work for a national chain, I have nothing against you, you're doing nothing wrong, and I'll see you at your work often enough, too. You are not an institution no matter where you work. And you can make your domain more relational than transactional, too. In fact, we need you to.

We live in the "AW" period of history. It will never be "BW" again. How shall we then live?