Brick-and-mortar stores

“This program-segment brought to you by Coupon-Clipper” (or whatever), another ad on the supposedly non-commercial public-radio station we listen to, Dubya-Hex-Hex-Hi, the classical-music FM station out of Rochester.
Well, it’s easier to take than all the cutesy high-energy yammering out of other radio-stations, the strident bellowing of Conservative talk-radio hosts, and the dirty jokes of the smash-mouth in-your-face stations.
“Supplying online printable coupons for major national chain stores, and also brick-and-mortar stores.
“What’s a ‘brick-and-mortar’ store?” I ask.
“What if I don’t need bricks and/or mortar?”
Reminds of my time at the Messenger newspaper in nearby Canandaigua.
An editor once said “all the news that fits,” a bastardization of the N.Y. Times motto: “All the news that’s fit to print.”
It reflected what was happening.
A blizzard of stories got delivered to our newspaper every morning via satellite.
The page-editors would pore through them, and pick out what little they could fit to a page.
Other stories, of course, were locally written. They usually led.
What came over the satellite was filler.
A page-editor might pick this-or-that, but what mattered in the end was that it fit.
Often it was cut to fit; the satellite stuff was cuttable.
“Sounds like......” (whoever), the head-honcho said.
He then told me “We don’t care if you read the paper, just buy it.”
My wife uses the Messenger as mulch.
The long-ago Sports-Editor Steve Bradley, who gave me the nickname “Grady” (see at right), used to complain he was only generating fish-wrap.

• “Dubya-Hex-Hex-Hi” is WXXI.
• For nearly 10 years after my stroke (1996-2005) I worked at the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper. Best job I ever had.
• “Canandaigua” (“cannan-DAY-gwuh”) is a small city nearby where we live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 15 miles away.