This week's NY Times had an article on "Shadow Work", work we do that is unpaid. When the term was coined 30 years ago, it referred mostly to housework, but today it is all around us. Pumping your own gas, bagging your own groceries are just two examples. The article mentioned that once stores had employees that assisted shoppers in finding what they were looking for. Today that no longer exists for two reasons, stores saving money and more important the longer it takes you to find what you are looking for, the more likely you are to just pick up a few more items.

This made me think of when I was a kid in Beacon we had a department store Schoonmaker's in which each department was manned by a clerk, who could not only help you find an article (such as a gift for your father in Men's Wear) but also had a cash drawer where you could pay for it. My friend Elaine's mother worked for years in the men's department, each Christmas helping me find the right thing for the right amount for Daddy. Even Grant's across the street had an employee in each department to help you. At Christmas I worked in the stocking and sock area, helping men pick out stockings for their wives. Today most people are young enough that they don't remember that method of shopping or so old they forgot.

And what I miss the most is the Shoe Store. Today you go to the shoe section, look for the style you want on display, check the item number and then search the shelves for that shoe, in your size. Not easy to find, and then you sit on a bench, if you're lucky enough to find one, try on the shoe, and if not satisfied, start all over. What a contrast from the past. First you would look at the selections available, much more than today. Then you would show it to an employee. He would seat you, remove your shoe, measure your foot, and then go find the shoe in the back of the store. Then he would kneel before you, helping you tuck your foot into the shoe - honestly, you felt like Cinderella with the prince...Anyway, if you wanted another color, off he would run and get it for you. Anything you asked for, it was his job to make you happy. Then he would take the boxed shoes to the counter, ring if up and send you off happily ever after.

Shadow work - I still don't pump my own gas -oh, I tried it about 25 years ago, but each pump is different to operate, I got gas on my hands, and then I had to wait in line to pay. I go to the one gas station in Red Hook that still pumps your gas, sometimes they even wash your windows, front AND back. It's hard when I'm away and every gas station is self service, then I have to beg a relative, usually a young kid, to go with me and pump the gas. They do my shadow work for me. Shadow work, sounds sneaky, and I have to think maybe it is.