Transcript of interview with Lois Cox by Mitch Cox, March 18, 1978

UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox i An Interview with Lois Cox An Oral History Conducted by Mitch Cox Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas Special Collections and Archives Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2017 UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox iii The Oral History Research Center (OHRC) was formally established by the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada System in September 2003 as an entity of the UNLV University Libraries’ Special Collections Division. The OHRC conducts oral interviews with individuals who are selected for their ability to provide first-hand observations on a variety of historical topics in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. The OHRC is also home to legacy oral history interviews conducted prior to its establishment including many conducted by UNLV History Professor Ralph Roske and his students. This legacy interview transcript received minimal editing, such as the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. The interviewee/narrator was not involved in the editing process. UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox iv Abstract On March 18, 1978, Mitch Cox interviewed Lois Cox (born 1938 in Ely, Nevada) about her experiences growing up in and living in Nevada. Cox first talks about her family background and then discusses her educational and employment backgrounds. She then describes her work for the Clark County School District, the changes in schools over time, and her opinions on how student activities have changed. The topics then shift to Cox’s opinions on some of Nevada’s politicians, her Basque background, and the changes in Las Vegas over time, particularly those related to gambling. UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 1 The narrator is Lois Cox. The date, March 18th, 1978 at two p.m. The place, 3806 South Pamplona, Las Vegas, Nevada. The interviewer is Mitch Cox, 3806 South Pamplona, Las Vegas, Nevada. The project is Local History Project Oral Interview: Life of a Las Vegas Old Timer. Well, Lois, where were you born? In Ely, Nevada. What year? In 1938. How long did you live in Ely? I lived in Ely until I moved to Yerington in 1957. How many people were in your family? Six children. Yes, and— Four girls and two boys. What did your father do? My father originally came from the Pyrenees Mountains in France. He came over here as Basque Shepherd—he had his own sheep, his own ranch until the Depression when he lost a lot of his money by loaning it to people just on handshake, and those people didn’t pay him back. So, therefore, he had to go to work for Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation in the mine quarry, which was very, very hard work. Luckily, my father was a very strong man, and he was able to do this kind of work. Was your mother also a native—also born in the Pyrenees Mountains? UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 2 My mother came from the Pyrenees, and she didn’t know my father over there; they were married over in this country. She came over—her brother brought her over to this county when she was nineteen years old. So did your family experience any problems being a so-called foreigner (unintelligible)? Oh, yes. Nowadays, it’s kinda fashionable to say that the Blacks were the only depressed[SIC], but that isn’t so. As everyone knows, in this country, the Irish have their problems, the Chinese had their problems, Italians had their problems, Puerto Ricans have their problems, and any foreign nationality has their problems, and I experienced many things in my lifetime. Could you explain on a few problems you had, say, in your early childhood? Okay. When we first went to school, of course, my older brothers and sisters couldn’t speak English as well as some of the other children. Fortunately, in Ely, there are a lot of people from the old country. We have Greeks, we have Italians, so we had quite a few ethnic groups there. But my older brothers and sisters couldn’t speak English. Today, they have all kinds of bilingual programs in the school to help these children; in those days, you just did what you had to do. You went and you learned to speak English. And your parents encouraged you to do this, because through their children, the parents learned English. They didn’t expect to just speak their language in their home. We spoke English in our home, and Basque. I see. I understand that you were a cheerleader in high school—did you do much travelling in Nevada? I travelled all over the state as a cheerleader, yes. Did you ever come to Las Vegas? Yes. And what was it like? UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 3 Las Vegas was much, much smaller than it is now. It was more of a small-town atmosphere. Of course, to us, it was a large town. This trip, we had very few hotels here. I believe the Flamingo was here and the Frontier—a few small ones. What year was this? Well, when I was in high school. I graduated in 1955, so it had to be ’54, ’53, ’42. I see. And how was Las Vegas’s gym back then? Well, to us, Las Vegas Gym was big. Of course, our White Pine gym was considered one of the biggest in the state, so we felt that our gym was very big, and Las Vegas’s was, too. Now, Las Vegas’s gym is tiny small. In fact, they’re working it over now to bring it up to the standards of the other gyms in the metropolitan area. Am I to understand there was only one high school at that time in this area? One high school at that time—in fact, Rancho was built, I believe, in 1955, and that was the second high school here. Okay, so you graduated from high school in 1955, and then where’d you go? Well, I had scholarships to go to college, but I wasn’t able to take advantage of those, which I haven’t really been too upset about. I was married in 1956. To who? To Walter G. Cox, who wasn’t a native of Ely, or not a native of Nevada, either. He was from Illinois, but he came to Ely by Idaho and many other points in the United States. He’s travelled quite extensively. Did you stay in Ely, or did you move somewhere? Well, we stayed in Ely until 1957, and then we moved to Yerington, Nevada, where my son was born. UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 4 Do you only have one son? We only had one child. I see. And when did you move to Las Vegas? We moved to Las Vegas in 1958. And how was Las Vegas then as a town, how big size-wise? Oh, I don’t know approximately how big it was—not near as big as it is now. It was still a small town. We watched Las Vegas grow—watched it grow from very small until now. What area of town did you live in? We lived in North Las Vegas at that time. I see. In an apartment. And what did your husband do? My husband had his own business here. What was that? He had a gas station and a garage. How was the size of the gas stations then? Were there a lot of ‘em like there is today on every street corner? No, there weren’t. In fact, the independent gas station operator could make a very good living here, then. Now, it’s gotten to the point where an independent, one gas station owner, really doesn’t do that well. I see. Where was this gas station located? It was located in east Las Vegas. And did you work at all when you first came here? UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 5 No, I stayed home with my son, who was small, and was a mother and housewife. Now, what schools did your son attend? Well, by the time he started to go to school, we had bought a house in Desert Hills—that’s in Paradise Valley—he went to JM Ullom Elementary, and then he went to Doris Hancock Elementary when we moved across town; and he went to James Cashman Junior High School and Clark High School. I see. And now he’s going to college. Okay. Have you had any work experience at all in Las Vegas? I started to work in 1964 for the Clark County School District. And what was your duties? Well, I went to purchasing at that time. When I first went to work for the school district, the purchasing department was on Losee Road, and very small. We moved to the education center in 1965, I believe, and as everyone knows, the school district has expanded, done nothing but grown since that time, and I still work for the school district. Have you always worked at purchasing or where, other experiences? No. I worked at purchasing, I moved to Basic High School as the assistant principal’s secretary. I then went to Western High School as the assistant principal’s secretary, and then I moved to Clark High School as the principal’s secretary, and that’s where I am now. I see. So you spent fourteen years in the school district; you must’ve seen it grow. I watched the school district grow. I watched programs come in, given up because they didn’t work. I’ve watched athletics grow to what it is now. I’ve really watched the school district grow (unintelligible). UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 6 Has the education in the schools changed much at all in the fourteen years you’ve been I the school district, say, curriculum? Oh, yes, curriculum has changed quite a bit. Now, they offer so much more than they did when they first started with the school district. They have accelerated classes, they have reading lab classes, math lab classes—they do everything possible to give every phase, every student a chance in school. And I understand you’re very interested in athletics in the schools. I was more interested in athletics previously than I am now, but yes I am interested in athletics. I imagine you’ve seen the caliber of athletics in Las Vegas expand very, very well; the players are much better. Well, yes. The players are much better than when they first started. But it’s a bigger city; we had a bigger area to draw from. We draw heavily from Westside, Las Vegas for our basketball program. We have mostly Blacks on the basketball teams, and every school, I feel that the standards that we expected from our athletes in previous years—and I’m talking about when I went to high school, when I first moved to Las Vegas, when I first went to work for the school district—has really, really declined. I feel that it isn’t because we have Blacks in our program; it’s because we have made it—we have dropped our standards to allow the athletes to play in the games. We have bent a few rules, I feel—I have nothing to really prove that—but I feel that we’ve bent the rules quite extensively for our athletic program. In the school district, you’ve seen changes in the curriculum—have you seen changes in, like, attendance, especially attendance and discipline? In attendance and discipline, yes. When I first went to school for the school district, I worked in purchasing, and I went to Basic High School and worked in the attendance office where the UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 7 attendance, assistant principal there—attendance then was much, we didn’t have that much of a problem with attendance then. Of course, the students didn’t work as much as they do now, the parents were much more involved in making kids attend school. Attendance keeping, recordkeeping, was on a small-scale basis, so to speak. You could call up the school and find out if your child was there that day that period, and you were able to get the information. Now, our attendance is computerize. You can’t find out if your child is there unless they go around and ask the teachers that day. They turn in IBM cards, they go out to the education ever night, they return the next morning, and you have a computer printout to tell you how many periods a student was absent, if they had cut one period, they were there another period. So, things have really progressed in schools in attendance. And about discipline? Well, the discipline problems, we have those problems now, too, much more than we ever did. And the reason for that, I think, is because a lot of parents don’t take the interest they should in their students. They let the school district do all the disciplinary work, they’re not really interested in what their children are doing. And I feel a lot of it is because we have a lot of people that are moving in and out of Las Vegas, a lot of parents, both of them work—not saying that parents can’t work and still be good parents—they can. In fact, I worked and I felt that I was a very good parent. But a lot of parents work and have interests outside the home and not with their families. And I believe that’s all over the nation, not just Las Vegas. Do you believe the high turnover, because of our hotel industry, affects the child at all? And affects the school? Yes. Yes, I do. UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 8 In what ways? We have a lot of apartments here, so therefore, we have a lot of people moving in and out of the school district. As you know, even if a person lives in Las Vegas and works here, if they live in an apartment, they’re more than apt to move from apartment to apartment; therefore, the children move from school to school. And all programs—I know we’re all in Clark County School District, but every school has its own program. So when a child moves from one school to the next school, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to be in the same book. They’re going to be using different books, different programs, and that child suffers. He can’t move from school to school and be expected to keep up with his class. There is just no way. Parents don’t understand this, because they feel the Clark County School District—every school is going to be the same. And this is not true. From the elementary grades to the senior high schools, programs are different, they used different books, they’re in different areas of the book throughout the year—there is no way you can move from one school to the next school and keep up your grades, keep up with that program. I understand the apathy in the schools is very bad nowadays. Could you expand? You mean the spirit of the students? Yes, to extracurricular activities to their school work, they wanna get out early, they want to take one class. When I first started to work at Western High School, we started the program where the seniors could get out early, didn’t have to take a full load, didn’t have to take six classes. But the only way they could do this was if they had a full time job, and it was up to my department, my assistant principal, to check these jobs out. The students had to apply for a reduced schedule, they had to fill out a form, they had to put down their employer. We, in turn, verified their UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 9 employment before we said they could have a reduced schedule. In other words, students were kept in school for as long as that day, six periods, unless they had a job, unless they were, in fact, working. We made sure they were working before we let them out. Now, a student can get out of class and take a reduced load, not needing a job, not—just turned out. By the time a student is a senior anymore, they have completed most all of their requirements, and that’s all they need is government. So we have most of our seniors—and I say most of our seniors—taking one class in school. If you have a senior that is taking six classes, it’s because that student has parents that know the value of staying in school six periods. That student has parents that want him to take advantage of the public education and not to take one class, and then for the rest of the day be out and be on your own. I get the feeling that you feel that education is more of a privilege instead of a right. I certainly do, yes I do. How about the apathy in extracurricular activities, such as going to watch ballgames, from the band, drama club, and what else? Okay, there again, the students are working more, we have more things here that they’re interested in. So, therefore, school is just a place to go during the day. School used to be the center of our activities for students. In a small town where I come from, the school was the center of activity for everybody. When they had ballgames, the parents went to the ballgames; the students went to the ballgames. They had buses run from, say, McGill and Ruth, to bring the students to the ballgames. Anymore, that isn’t so. Anymore, if you come to extracurricular activities at night, students have their own cars—they come if they want. Their jobs interfere with extracurricular activities. They have many movies they can go to, they have a Strip they can go to. There’s just so many things here for our students other than the schools, but schools mean UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 10 nothing to them anymore. In fact, some of the students feel that that is beneath them. They’re more grown-up, they’re too mature for this type of entertainment, and I feel they’re wrong. Has the education specialized in any way? Has it gone from more general to more specialized in certain areas, like, say, accelerated classes to, you know, from the general to accelerated, or? Well, yes. Now, I feel—before, I said that the program we offer our students here is very good, and it is—but I feel that for the general well-rounded students, our program is really quite lacking, because we have the accelerated program—which they have accelerated chemistry, they have math classes that are accelerated, English classes that are accelerated—these accelerated classes prepare these students for college work to go on to college, but they do not prepare the student to go out and get a job. Now, I’ve seen and I’ve typed things, I’ve typed scholarships for people and had to take it from the student’s work. I have done many things with the students like that, and I find that the students that are in accelerated classes are our best students. Our students who are college-bound can write beautifully, yes, but their spelling is bad, their grammar is poor, their punctuation is poor. You have to really watch these students, because they don’t either have—I’m not saying they don’t have the knowledge—they don’t care as much. They know that someone is going to correct their work. They know that they don’t have to do (unintelligible)—they know they are going to further their education. They do not have to go out and, say, work for a living when they graduate from high school, so they don’t prepare themselves anymore. They prepare themselves to go on to be doctors, to be chemists, to be whatever it takes, but they don’t prepare themselves to work after high school. And I feel that in previous years, the student prepared themselves to work after high school—not saying they weren’t going to college, but UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 11 they might have not had the chance to go, so they had to work after college and prepare themselves. So you believe in more general education for everyone, like basics of spelling, more punctuation, more like a—? Yes, I think we have to get back to the very basics and continue with the basics until that student gets to be a sophomore in high school. I don’t think we should offer accelerated courses or start teaching math and U.S. history, Nevada history in the junior high schools. I don’t think that a student can appreciate Nevada history until he is an upperclassman in high school. They don’t care about their state; a junior high student doesn’t care about his state—not until he gets up to be a junior or senior in high school (unintelligible). I think that we should offer them Nevada history, not in the lower grades. How do you feel about the quality of education for the lower student, the student that really has trouble learning, the student who’s really a trouble student? Well, we have many courses, many classes, many programs for the underprivileged, the slow learner, so to speak. We have, like I say before, the reading mat lab, the math lab—we spend many, many, many, many dollars in this area. We have specialized teachers for this area. They, in turn, have teacher’s aides to help them. Our math lab has many students; our reading lab is overcrowded. We have many, many students in this area. However, I do feel that once a student is in intro classes, that that student has a hard time moving up. Then, he is forever in those introductory classes. I know we try to teach them to read—a student cannot do anything unless he can read—but there again, once he is in those classes, he stays in those classes until he graduates. He doesn’t really move up that much. His friends are in that class, and he stays in that class. UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 12 Do you find that most of these classes, would you say in your opinion—I imagine you don’t have statistics—are mostly minority students: Blacks, Chicanos, students that just don’t get that (unintelligible)? I feel that, yes, most of these classes, we do have minority students. Of course, we do have some White students in these classes also, but mainly minority students, I believe. How do you feel about the testing they’re gonna do now for diplomas? In other words, two diplomas, one for attendance and one for passing tests? I think that was a good idea. (Unintelligible)? Yes, I did, because some of these students that get to be seniors, are ready to graduate, cannot read, cannot fill out a job application, cannot really function. And sometimes we have to say it’s our school district, our fault; sometimes it’s the students fault. But wherever the fault lies, we have to find the problem and we have to correct that problem. We have to force the student to learn. You’re not going to learn by people saying, “You must, this is the thing to do, you have the opportunity”—no. I think that you have to discipline them, you have to force people to learn. I don’t think that you can let children just run up and so whatever they want; you have to make them follow the rules. You have to expect them to follow the rules, expect them to learn, expect them to be able to pass a competency test by the time they graduate from high school. You have to, have to do this, because up to this point, we have been very lax, and I feel that many of our citizens can’t function. You’re getting away from the individual school; now, how do you feel about the hierarchy of the whole school district as a whole—the board down to the principal? Do you think that it’s functionable or needs changes, or? UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 13 Well, I feel that our district has grown so much that man, mainly our superintendent, can’t, in no way, be able to keep his thumb up into going on all over the school district. Now, Dr. Guinn is the superintendent at this time, and he is a terrific superintendent; he is a terrific man. And he tries his very best, but that man works from sunup until all hours of the night, keeping track of the school district. I feel that maybe we should look into the fact that we should split up our school district, have different areas. I think that we have a large education center out on Flamingo Road. We have many areas out there, many people out there, that we could maybe look to see what their jobs are. We might be able to save money by finding out that we don’t need that many people out there, what, maybe we need to split our school district up and have different sections, but not have that many people running the school district, running one school district. [Recording ends] Well, overall, then, you seem to like the school district, general (unintelligible)? Yes, I think that we have a real good system here. I think that we can improve upon it. I think we are weak in some areas, but I think all in all, the school district is a good school district. But we do need work in some areas. On the political side of our statewide politicians, do you remember if maybe some governors of past or senators or any other? Well, governors, of course, I remember Vail Pittman, the name Vail Pittman—I was a youngster then. I didn’t really vote for him; to me, he was just someone that sat far away, and I didn’t really know him. Then there was Charles Russell, who was a little bit more of my, when I was in high school when I was growing up. Some of the old timers, I didn’t really know as governors. I remember Grant Sawyer because he was there when I was a young adult. And of course I UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 14 remember Laxalt, who was a French Basque and (unintelligible) who was a great senator, and I feel that he’s going to (unintelligible) from Laxalt. Senators: Howard Cannon was, I think, a very good man. I think that he’s done well for the state. Now, my very favorite, favorite politician is my brother. My brother is GP Etcheverry. He was a native of Ely for twelve years, I believe. Now, he’s the executive director of the League of Cities in Carson City, and he’s doing a fantastic job, and you’ll hear more about GP Etcheverry, I’m sure. I really get the feeling that you’re a Paul Laxalt fan. Yes, I am. Do you think he’s done a lot for the state as a governor, as a senator? I think that he’s done a lot for the state. I think he’s doing a lot for the state now. I think that he’s for things that people, just average people don’t really understand. He’s a native Nevadan, he’s lived here for a long time, he’s for the underprivileged, the underdog. I think people don’t realize this because he’s a Republican; people don’t feel that Republicans are for this. I feel that Paul Laxalt is. I think that he has Nevada’s interest at heart, as I feel Howard Cannon does, but I really feel that Paul is up and coming. How about James Santini? James Santini is a politician. I feel that he is for what people are for, the majority. I mean, I don’t feel that he has an opinion of his very own. Now, I know many people would oppose me on this, but I think Paul—James Santini is just, is a politician. You must remember some of the very famous congressmen, Walter Baring. He was—do you have any feelings about Walter? I feel Walter Baring was in the same boat as James Santini. I see. And how about Alan Bible? UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 15 Alan Bible was there for many years, of course, and he helped a lot of people. I think that he got where he was just a figurehead, however. I felt that he had Nevada’s interest at heart, but I think that we have better people coming up than Bible. He was here for a long time, he did a lot of good, but his time is over when he’s over. Getting back to the Basques, how are the Basques today? I mean, how do they feel—I noticed that you made a statement about Paul Laxalt being a French Basque—is there a difference, French Basque? Most definitely. There is Spanish Basque and French Basque. Now, anybody that knows anything about the Basques, anybody that has anything to do with Basques, know there are French and Spanish Basques. Spanish Basque come from the Spanish side of the Pyrenees Mountains; French Basques come from the Pyrenees side. Our languages are different, some of our customs are different. We are Basques, but yet we are united yet separated. I see. And how do the Basques get together today, how do they feel? Do they have festivals (unintelligible)? Oh, well, today they have festivals, and it’s fashionable to belong to a Basque club, to have the Basque outfit, to wear the Basque shoes, to have your children learn the Basque dances and what have you. In my day, when I was growing up, it wasn’t quite so fashionable. We, of course, did that, but in our own areas, in our own homes. We didn’t have to have a club, so to speak. We didn’t get into the whole state having a festival. That is fashionable today, and it’s very fashionable to have your children do the (unintelligible), to talk about (unintelligible)—those are the goatskin drinking containers that you squeeze to get into your mouth. It’s fashionable to have these things in your home now, to remember your ethnic background. When I was young, you were a Basque; you knew you were a Basque. Your family didn’t let you forget you were a UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 16 Basque, but yet you were struggling to learn English. Your parents were struggling to learn English; now, it’s fun to look back and see what your folks did. When I was young, you lived it. You didn’t do it just on festival days in other places. I suppose, then, being a proud Basque, you’ve probably taught your sons some of the Basque customs and so forth? My son was raised with the Basque customs, of course, because his grandmother is from the old country. My father passed away when I was twelve years old, but my mother raised us children, and she had a big influence on my child—and because she is from the old country, because she speaks broken English, and because my son loves her very much, and so do I, and so does my husband. He learned a lot about our Basque heritage and our traditions. Is your husband Basque? My husband is not Basque. Who was he? My husband was Irish. Ah. The Basque people, are they, I mean, could you describe them? Are they jolly, some of their—? Well, the way they explained this in the books, they were very honest, very happy, very home-oriented, very content with their home life, hardworking, and I believe that sums us up pretty good. And some of the customs, can you tell me some of the customs, such as any wine drinking, dishes, just some of the delicacies? Well, my mother, now, is a terrific cook. I don’t claim to be cook that my mother is, but she makes terrific bread. As you know, you probably heard of Basque bread, and it is very good UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 17 bread—nowhere will you find bread like that. When they bake bread, they also make the cross on the top, and I don’t know if you’ve read that or not, but that is to bless the bread. We have wine, of course, with every meal, and I drank wine from the time I was young with every meal. We have, well, I really can’t think of too many Basque dishes right off hand, but we have Basque hotels in northern Nevada mostly that feature Basque food. Oh, of course or native dish, the one dish that we eat a lot, is lamb. Um, we’re known for our different lamb dishes—lamb roasts, lamb stews, and it is very good if it’s cooked right. That’s good. Now, getting on to Vegas, how can—you’ve seen Vegas grow, I know, in the twenty years you’ve been here. Can you think of some of the things, some examples, like, say, streets, and so forth? When we first moved here, my brother-in-law bought a house in Charleston Heights. Now, Charleston Heights was way (unintelligible) past everything that ever existed. It seems like we were going to Los Angeles when we went to his house. And that was just above Decatur; that was just barely—and Decatur was just a two-lane highway. My son played little league ball, and we had to come to Cashman Junior High School for him to play one time. Well, we couldn’t find Cashman Junior High School. Cashman Junior High School—there was nothing, just Cashman Junior High School. Later on, we bought a house above Decatur, and we were the first ones out. We were the last ones out in the city. Now, we bought a house up by Rainbow; we are still just on the edge of town, but they’re fast coming to us. They’re growing out this way. We are thinking about buying land farther out. So, Vegas has really grown. It has just grown leaps and bounds. I can remember when I was in high school, when we came to Las Vegas to play ball, when we came to Las Vegas to march in the Helldorado parade, which was a very big thing in those days; in those days, everybody attended the parades. Everybody participated in Helldorado. UNLV University Libraries Lois Cox 18 Now, you don’t even realize it’s Helldorado Week, because it isn’t so widespread. People just have other things to do. We are a big city now. However, getting back to a landmark, when I came down here to the Helldorado parade, we would go to Twin Lakes swimming pool and swim. Now, Twin Lakes was way out; you couldn’t possibly walk there. You would have go in a car—it was way out. You spent the day at Twin Lakes. Twin Lakes, today, is Lorenzi Park. Lorenzi Park is in the middle of Las Vegas, practically, and that is Twin Lakes. That was Twin Lakes, Lorenzi Park. Getting to that atmosphere of a small town to big town, how has that changed? I imagine you’ve seen from Las Vegas going to what you consider a small town, almost, to a city? Well, I watched a change, of course, in the people. Before, you went to the same stores to shop, you knew everybody in t