"WE'VE GOT GAS AND WORMS"

Kristin Philpot   I worked at the "North End Gas and Goodies"  for a summer while in high school in the nineties. We all called it the North End Store but that name must have stolen from the grocery store shut down across the street on McGill.

I pumped gas, served ice cream,  and bred and packaged worms (bait). In hindsight, there probably wasn't enough hand washing in between! We had a sign outside that said "YES! We have gas and worms." - which led to a summer of ridicule and advice that I should see a doctor! We sold single cigarettes for $0.25, which meant a lot of guys stopping by for sneaky smokes their wives didn't know about! In those days they smoked indoors of course. We also had a cork board where cottagers or campers would leave messages for each other (imagine life without cells!). It was the way to find the best parties. It was a good job, the bosses (Brad Campbell and a fellow from Deloro) pretty much left me to my own devices and I met lots of fun people....