Let’s set aside for a moment whether Mitt Romney was having a “Bush at the checkout” moment of cluelessness, or celebrating technology that denies jobs to the working class, or any of that stuff.
The bottom line for me is that Wawas are pretty amazing.
Have you ever been to one? I have, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is unlike any other Interstate exit/convenience store/gas station/fast food experience I’ve ever had. I wish I could have taken my late father-in-law to one. Since he was in the convenience-store business in Memphis, he would have fully appreciated it.
It’s a sort of Alice’s Restaurant “you can get anything you want” experience, laid out in an attractive and accessible manner.
The last time I stopped at one, the manager told me that Wawa was about to open some stores in South Carolina. Has anyone seen one down here yet? (If so, they’re not included on this store locator, which indicates they are only to be found in DE. MD, NJ, PA and VA.)
Related Posts
Maybe one reason I like those stores is that “WaWa” was a nickname given me in the mid-70s by one of my dearest newspaper friends ever, the late Delores Ballard of Jackson, TN.
Actually, it was one of several nicknames Delo gave me. My least favorite was “Percival Pedant,” based on my adamant insistence on correct usage. The one I liked best was “Citizen Arcane,” having to do, I suppose, with my affinity for the esoteric. Or perhaps it was my tendency to enjoy knowing things that others didn’t. Something along those lines.
When my first child was born, it was treated as a monumental event (which it was) by my work peers. It was a very young newsroom, and I was more or less the first of those my age to have a child. Delo promptly dubbed my infant daughter “The WaWette”…
I went to one last spring in VA. Didn’t notice anything particularly special about it. It was clean and well layed out though.
I think I remember one on I-95 on our way to virginia earlier this year. Can’t remember if it was NC or SC though. Had a food court in it. Still prefer 7 11 for their slushys though.
MSNBC took the Romney remark out of context. There was a POLITICO story about that:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/06/msnbc-misportrays-romneys-wawa-remarks-126545.html
Romney acts like he’s from another planet or something. Has there EVER been a presidential candidate THIS out of touch with the real world of most Americans?
Corey is right, and I did not mean to encourage impressions such as the one that Bud took away from this.
That’s why I suggested setting all that aside. I just wanted to agree that Wawa was awesome.
And if you follow that GHW Bush link, you’ll not that that incident was misrepresented as well. It didn’t even take place at an actual checkout, the way I had thought…
Bud makes me wonder if he has ever been in a Wawa.Perhaps he is out of touch as well. I found them quite unique though aggravating at first. When you are the only person in the store and you are told to punch your order in rather than saying “hey Mac give me the breakfast sandwich.” Once you figure out you can order it from the pump it becomes cool. I still tend to prefer Sheetz when we are up that way, but they are more abundant.
Corey, I watched the entire in-context video of Romney’s WaWa speech and indeed he didn’t look as clueless as the edited version. Romney himself has done much worse by actually producing a video that takes Obama’s own words about the economy and completely distorts them. Regardless it’s the silly season in politics and voters need to be wary of these types of attacks.
Having said that the video really didn’t seem to show Romney in a particularly favorable light. He was making a point about government regulation that had absolutely nothing to do with the WaWa vending machines. I’ve seen many federal grant applications and they do indeed seem daunting. Yet much of it is boilerplate stuff that really doesn’t require much input. It’s mostly legal stuff concerning EEO, ADA, safe workplace and other important federal requirements. Not sure why a doctor would have trouble answering a few questions about those matters.
@bud–re: Romney and irrelevant posturing about regulation–If you are a hammer, everything is a nail.
“MSNBC took the Romney remark out of context.”
You don’t say… but isn’t that their new style of reporting? It’s not the first time they’ve been caught making up the news.
Forget Wawa’s, how about Wegmans opening up some stores down here?
Is it like Mass General where if it’s not Chinese made crap you have to be still living on a 1968 LSD trip?
bud is anyone with a (R) behind their name going to be looked in a favorable light to you?
Speaking of which, I noticed a Clerk of Court campaign sign last night that had “Republican” written across the bottom. Does it really matter if the person filling that position is a Democrat or Republican? I don’t recall being asked that on any job application I’ve filled out.
bud is anyone with a (R) behind their name going to be looked in a favorable light to you?
-SD II
John Courson is a fairly reasonable sort. John Huntsman was a pretty good guy. I agreed with Ron Paul half the time and could respect his views the other half. Rand Paul seems like his dad so I might be able to respect him. At one time I liked Scott Brown. But he’s acting very weird about the debate arrangements in MA. I liked John McCain in 2000. Not so much by 2008. Seems like Republicans who act with a tiny bit of willingness to work with the Dems are automatically demonized. The ones who used to be reasonable are now non-existent.
bud – Those people are all RINOs, not Republicans. If you agree with these people, you must also be a fan of Jake Knotts.
@Phillip–Wegmans–another fine contribution from Buffalo, right up there with beef on weck….
@SDII–“Is it like Mass General where if it’s not Chinese made crap you have to be still living on a 1968 LSD trip?’
What do you have against a fine hospital in Boston?
Answering SD II is like shooting at a moving target. The question was did I look in a favorable light at anyone with an (R) behind their name. Like any “good” conservative SD II changes the entire context of the question. SD you’re a piece of work.
@ bud– you seem like a smart guy. If one does x repeatedly and gets an unsatisfactory result (infuriating, annoying, frustrating) almost every time, what would a smart person do next time?
You are operating as a sincere commenter. Others only intermittently do, and otherwise are in it for lulz.
I think he meant Mast General Store.
@Kathryn – It’s full of funny talking Democrats.
Just an observation, you’re abusing your spelling cop privileges almost as bad as Obama is his executive privileges today.
@bud – Is it better to be as predictable as you are where you hate everything non-liberal or non-government dependent?
Romney probably lost the SC primary because he was amazed by how fast the service was at our local fast food restaurant – Rush’s.
SD II here’s your chance to prove how open-minded you are about politicians on the left side of the political aisle. Give me your list of folks with (D) beside their name. You’re even free to include blue dogs. Otherwise just shut the hell up about how predictable I am.