What’s On my Mind Today

Some of you who know me in real life probably expected yet another rant about what happened in Afghanistan. Truth is, it is too distressing to talk about. I don’t relish the fact that the Taliban, which means “God’s children,” now has a fleet of OUR Blackhawk helicopters! The media won’t tell you that, but I will. However, a certain socialist still endorses him, and I am ready to take her to task for siding with a brainless idiot who couldn’t find his way out of a rabbit hole. I’ll leave it at that.

I wanted to talk about an usual situation that is happening here on Long Island, which involves 7-Eleven. For those of you that don’t know, it is where most people like to get their morning coffee and bagels, and it is the go to place for all the local truck drivers. During my bus driving days, I was always there buying coffee, lunch, or a snack for the trip home. Read the article below first, then I’ll get into the rest.

https://nypost.com/2020/08/03/7-eleven-parent-company-acquires-speedway-for-21-billion/

Now that you have the gist of it, here is what you don’t know. The former Speedway stations were designated to become 7-Eleven stores, but regulators decided it would be a monopoly that could cause Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks to go out of business. So the parent company was forced to sell some of the stations to Mobil and BP. Now here is where things get confusing.

The Speedway down the road from my complex has been branded as a Mobil. But TECHNICALLY, its a 7-Eleven. There are a few differences between this station, and a “real” Mobil station, but there are too minor to go into. But there is one major difference.

When I go to a Mobil, I usually see the “Bolla Market” branding, outside. All the Mobil stations around here are like that. But when I go to the branded Mobil in my area, there is no such branding because it is a 7-Eleven in disguise. I think it is funny that I can see the original “Speedway” sign underneath the Mobil sign at night because it is illuminated.

Ironically, on the other side of the highway out of view is a “real” 7-Eleven that sells gas. So in theory, I can use the company card to purchase gasoline for my bus at that station as well as the branded Mobil.

The average Joe buying gas, cigarettes, or a gallon of milk may not notice these subtle differences, or even care. It is the same thing with the Speedway stations that are branded as BP. Differences are minor, as compared to a typical BP station, but I think most people will not care.

If you are a owner of a chain of retail establishments, as a rule, you are not supposed to put a store within ten miles of another store. But I noticed that on a ten mile stretch of a major thoroughfare in Selden, I counted four 7-Elevens, and all are doing well. A running joke is that out here, you can put a 7-Eleven anywhere, and it will make a profit. What’s the secret? Well, people love their morning coffee ad/or bagel, banana, a Big Gulp, and it is a convenient place for truck drivers, bus drivers, landscapers, Uber drivers, et al, to get a bite to eat.

So we have a lot more 7-Elevens to choose from now. While its still kinda sorta a monopoly, I highly doubt Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts will go belly up anytime soon. There are people who love DD coffee and doughnuts and their Pumpkin Spice latte’s in the morning. That will not change. Anyway, I like DD Boston Creme doughnuts better than the ones at 7-Eleven.

In a previous post, I was talking about how Facebook would not let me post a Hava Nagila video and tag a Jewish friend on her birthday. It seems like now Z is not letting anyone share YouTube videos because I attempted to post one that was definitely not offensive and it didn’t post. The censorship is real. And I deleted my Parler page because no one seemed to be interested in my posts. Or interested in hearing the truth. I can lead a horse to water, but I can’t make him drink.

In closing, I’ll leave the following video here:

Thanks for reading my post and have a blessed day.