Dream of: 03 June 2002 "Crispie Creme"
I was pushing a lawnmower across the street from the Crispie Creme doughnut shop in Portsmouth, when my mother pulled up in a car. She was going to pick me up, but she had to go into a nearby grocery store first. I told her that while she was in the store I would go across the street and cut the grass in front of the Crispie Creme. She left and I pushed my lawnmower across the street.
I felt young, perhaps 20 years old. I was wearing a black tee shirt and on my right arm, from the elbow up half-way to the shoulder, I was wearing an elaborate piece of metal-work. The metal made me feel hip, almost futuristic. I liked the feel.
The grass in front of the Crispie Creme was rather long and shaggy. But as I began cutting, I wondered if it were proper for me to simply cut the grass there without being asked. I decided I would only cut a little in front, and not bother the large lot in back of the doughnut shop.
After cutting the grass all the way along the street in front of the shop, my lawnmower gave out; it began slowing down and making a whirring sound without actually cutting. I finally turned it off.
I decided as long as I was there I would go inside and buy some doughnuts. I wanted the white creme-filled variety. I was unsure whether to buy a half dozen or a dozen. They would probably be expensive, but I was in the mood to splurge a little.
I walked inside. On the wall in front of me were written in bold letters the words "Crispie Creme." But I had noticed the words hadn't been on the outside of the shop. A woman behind the counter greeted me. I asked her how much the white creme-filled doughnuts were and she told me they were about sixty-seven cents apiece. I told her to give me a dozen. I then said something about the "Crispie Creme," and she corrected me, saying the place was no longer called "Crispie Creme."
I questioned her and a dialogue ensued between us wherein she explained she had lost the right to use the words Crispie Creme to the national corporation which went by that name; she was only allowed to have the small sign inside the shop. I was surprised. I thought about how this shop had been called the Crispie Creme for as long as I could remember, back before I even went to high school. How could the national corporation simply take away the name? She tried to explain that she had been in a lawsuit and had lost; but I still didn't understand how she could have lost the name after having had it for so long. Finally, however, I concluded that she had never registered the name. But the loss of the name still didn't make good sense.
Copyright 2012 by Steve Collier
