Morning Joke

Way back when I was a kid I would sometimes go to the grocery with my mother. This would've been in the late 1950s or early '60s. The store that I remember was A & P — "The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company." This business, which operated from 1859 until 2015, was once the largest grocery retailer in the United States. I do not know how the word "tea" was chosen to be in the name. What I do know is that I remember the coffee. A & P roasted and ground their own brand. As soon as you entered the store, the coffee smelled so good. Even as a twelve-year-old I learned to relish the aroma. At that age I was not allowed to drink coffee — only tea with a little milk added. But I remember thinking that anything that tasted as good as fresh-roasted coffee smelled must be pretty terrific