THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501130250
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sun Spots
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
FRIDAY, DEC. 30
11:35 a.m. - North Main Street, Suffolk
Dogs are for sale on Main Street! Not the furry type, but those you smear mustard, onions and chili on and bite into.
Law Dogs has a movable stand complete with a blue- and white-striped umbrella stationed in front of Crestar Bank. Steam rises from the wagon like smoke from a chimney in the brisk, cold air.
Lunchtime is approaching, and passersby can buy hot dogs and soft drinks on the run.
- Shirley Brinkley
TUESDAY, JAN. 3
3:35 p.m. - Post Office, Main Street, Suffolk
All day, the customer has been trying to get her 3-cent stamps to mail the stack of bills she had written, addressed and stamped - all with 29-cent stamps - over the holidays.
But all day, the lines have been too long. Finally, she gets inside.
``I ain't never in my life . . . ,'' says a man, shaking his head as he walks in from the side entrance.
Another newcomer looks incredulous at the line snaking around inside the inner lobby, then spots two employees counting out stamps from a dispensing machine, its door propped open, in the outer lobby.
``You mean we can really buy stamps out here?'' he asks, jumping in line.
``How many do you want?'' the postal worker asks.
A woman stands at the table, sticking stamps on the bills she had also addressed and stamped with the outdated postage.
``It's been many a day since we've seen a 3-cent stamp,'' she says.
- Susie Stoughton
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4
2:05 p.m. - Bennett's Creek Post Office
The post office on Bennett's Pasture Road closes for lunch from 1 to 2 p.m., but the clock reads 2:05. The doors are still locked, and the dozen or so patrons waiting in the lobby are getting restless.
Everyone there is on the same quest.
Stuck with leftover 29-cent stamps, they are seeking the hottest item in any area post office, the elusive 1- and 3-cent stamps necessary to meet the new 32-cent, first-class postage rate.
Amid the semi-good-natured grumbling, one patron announces in frustration, ``The post office is just like anything else connected with the federal government - overpriced and always late.''
- Phyllis Speidell
THURSDAY, JAN. 5
9 a.m. - A North Main Street convenience store
It is cold. It is really cold, in fact.
The lines at the coffee pots are backed up a lot of mornings, but the day's near-freezing chill has put a strain on the four-pot supply.
``Hey, sorry,'' one man says, pouring the last drop from the last pot into his 20-ounce cup as a store employee juggles filters and presses buttons in a feverish attempt to replenish.
``It's OK,'' answers another customer, empty cup in hand.
He puts the cup on the counter and rubs his palms together over a burner.
``I can hang out here a while.''
- Robert Little
FRIDAY, JAN. 6
12:30 p.m. - Driver Elementary School
The children in Patricia Swindell's fourth-grade class are discussing careers.
How would they like to make a living?
Different children, different ideas. Sometimes, a problem has to be resolved.
One little girl, who loves to talk, asks the teacher, ``Is there a job I can get where I can talk all the time?''
- Frank Roberts
MONDAY, JAN. 9
2:45 p.m. - North Main Street, downtown
While driving south, a woman crosses the railroad tracks and notices a Christmas wreath topped with a red bow on the old CSX train station.
It is surprising to see because the building had been damaged by a fire just before Thanksgiving.
``We don't know who put it there,'' says Betsy Brothers, president of the Nansemond-Suffolk Historical Society. ``All the people we thought had done it didn't put it there.''
Who is the Good Samaritan who decided to decorate the sad-looking white building?
- Shirley Brinkley ILLUSTRATION: One size fits all
Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
It's a bit late for giving Christmas presents, but, no recipient is
likely to turn down this little red chariot. The Dodge Viper,
complete with bow accessory, is on display at Starr Motors in
Suffolk.
by CNB