Pizza

Growing up, I lived in a small town in Oregon called Cottage Grove. We lived there from the time I was in the fourth grade until I started my Sophomore year of high school.

I had not been to that town since I got out of boot camp in 1986. It was very interesting to see how much the town had changed. And to realize how much I didn't remember about the town.

There is a brand new high school there. Lots of new houses. Lots of people I did not know.

When we lived there, the big thing was to go to the local pizza joint for supper on Saturday night. The place was always packed. When you walked in, there was a huge fish tank next to the door that you could see from inside and out. It had the biggest goldfish in I had ever seen.

When you got inside, there was a Ms. PacMan game with a waiting area for the take-out pizza.

You ordered your pizza at a wood counter and waited for your number to be posted on the electronic board at the back of the restaurant.

They had cool names for their pizzas. Like Gipettos. And Goofy's Revenge and fun thinkgs like that.

When we went there Wednesday night (for old-times sake), we found nothing had changed. Well, almost nothing. The only thing different was they no longer use the electronic board. It is still there, but they don't use it.

Even the manager/owner is the same guy that was there 25 years ago.

Incredible.