My Good Friend Jo-Ann

Today the oldest daughter had to run out to her school to pick up a purchase order and she invited me to go along and do some shopping at the stores on the rez while we were out that direction. Her dad has been asking her to bring the grandbaby by his office so he can show him off to all his co-workers so we decided that we would meet him at the cafeteria there for lunch. The son-in-law was going to be gone flying with his mom most of the day, but the weather didn't cooperate, so he wanted to be included in this outing as well. The daughter warned him ahead of time that this adventure would involve some store visits, but he decided the free food was enticing enough to put up with the shopping.

We got the purchase order, ate lunch and appreciated all of the appropriate oohs and aahs that the baby received and then it was time for the real fun to begin. We told the driver that the first stop was Jo-Ann's. He said "You mean Jo-Ann." Apparently during the many visits to the fabric store that the son-in-law has made with the daughter since he joined the family he has determined that the official title of this business is Jo-Ann - singular and not Jo-Anns - plural or Jo-Ann's - possessive.


Well, I will be the first to admit that I call this store Jo-Ann's. Always have and probably always will. I will even go as far as to say that I thought perhaps the official name of the store was Jo-Ann's and I have a few canceled checks in my possession to prove it. Well, now I know that I have been mistaken all these years, but I doubt that will quickly change how I refer to this store. The son-in-law went on to expound "you don't say you are going to Wal-marts or Targets do you?" He is absolutely correct. I have never once in my life said I was going to Targets.

Of course, this conversation got me started thinking about why this is. Why do I call the JoAnn fabric store Jo-Anns but have no trouble calling Target Target or Wal-mart Wal-mart? Now, I have already said that I might have possibly just been confused about the name of the store, but I am pretty sure I would have still called it Jo-Anns regardless. Jo-Ann just sounds wrong to me.
After much musing on this topic I have finally come up with a logical explanation. It all goes back to the relationship that have with this store. Obviously, through my many frequent visits to this business I have developed a strong and lasting friendship. Just as I would not say I am going to Kim or Denise or Moana when I visit one of my good friends I don't say I am going to Jo-Ann. Actually I think this has something to do with the English language. When I say I am going to Kim's the word house is inferred even though it is not said and therefore the name becomes possessive as in Kim's house and the s is added. When I go to the fabric store I think of it as belonging to my good friend Jo-Ann. I can even envision this Jo-Ann person in my head. She is about my age and she is happy and friendly and funny and extremely talented, not unlike many of my other friends. Sometimes she employs grouchy, overworked individuals in her store, but that just shows how truly charitable she really is. Therefore when I head off to the fabric store to make a purchase I am going to my buddy Jo-Ann's store and the s makes perfect sense. I have no such vision of Target (the person) in my head and as far as Wal-mart goes, well I can conjure up Sam from the commercials that I have seen but he seems to reserve his friendships for people who belong to his club and since it costs money to join his club I just can't get too excited about pursuing that relationship.

Now, back to our shopping experience. The daughter and I had a wonderful time at JoAnn's and found some exciting after Christmas bargains. We enjoyed ourselves so much that perhaps we stayed longer than we had intended. At least that is probably what the men folk in the car were thinking.

Hey, it was a nice day for an afternoon nap in the parking lot of my friend Jo-Ann's store.

Today I am grateful for

a yummy chicken salad sandwich with pecans and dates.
a proud grandpa who loves his grandson and isn't afraid to let that love show.
a patient son-in-law.