A Supermarket in California (1955)
50 points by squircle 2 days ago | 22 comments
  • mitchbob 2 days ago |
    Wonderful. And another Ginsberg Berkeley poem, maybe my favorite:

    https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49304/sunflower-sutra

  • apengwin 2 days ago |
    Go Bears
  • mrayycombi 2 days ago |
    Apparently Mr Ginsberg was a friend to young men. And not in a good way:

    https://chroniclesmagazine.org/web/allen-ginsberg-pedophilia...

    • sitkack 2 days ago |
      The Southern Poverty Law Center has characterized it as catering to "intellectual wing of white nationalist movement" wrt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicles_(magazine)

      Everything in that article might be true, but I'd use a different source.

      • haroldp 2 days ago |
        Same could be said for the SPLC.
        • PorterBHall 2 days ago |
          This is incorrect.
    • squircle 2 days ago |
      Well, yeah... If you read this poem, it's right there on the surface. I see no reason to defend the author's character--the text is what it is.
      • mrayycombi 2 days ago |
        There are wonderful texts by people who didn't rape minors or advocate for its legalization(although arguably the latter is an opinion, while the former is a crime).

        Just sayin'

        • squircle 2 days ago |
          > There are wonderful texts by people who didn't rape minors or advocate for its legalization(although arguably the latter is an opinion, while the former is a crime).

          Of course there are. Apologies if I triggered you?

    • mistrial9 2 days ago |
      Mr Ginsberg was known to inappropriately start up the exposed genitals now and then

      source: people who saw it

  • asah 2 days ago |
    Howl was the poem that spurred inspired a generation:

    https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49303/howl

  • informal007 2 days ago |
    Sorry for the unrelated comment.

    It seems that I saw "AI" when I glance "A" in the title, I'm like a LLM trained by news in recently years...

    • dmd 2 days ago |
      I cannot stress enough: wat
  • mmanfrin 2 days ago |
    The supermarket this takes place at is now the Trader Joe's in Berkeley on University.

    Also a radiolab episode opener takes place at Berkeley Bowl West (the ep on the paradox of choice, they try to decide what apples to get).

    These have been your two Berkeley Grocery Store Facts of the day. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.

  • shove 2 days ago |
    Do I even want to know why Ginsberg is being posted to HN?
  • wvu 2 days ago |
    It’s best heard, as read by Allen Ginsberg himself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKf3b9AXoG8
  • sema4hacker 2 days ago |
    I remember growing up with supermarkets that had no sealed packaging, no pop-top drinks, just glass no plastic, no drinking water, the ice cream choices were only vanilla/strawberry/chocolate/neopolitan and maybe rocky road, chips were only plain, ruffles, fritos, or BBQ, there were no barcodes only price stickers, no nutrition labels, no microwave instructions, only oreo or hydrox, no expiration dates, no plastic bags, no security cameras, no self-serve checkout.
    • leoh 14 hours ago |
      Amen
  • WalterBright 2 days ago |
    The Air Force didn't let kids into the base supermarket if they were too big to sit in the shopping cart, and under 10. So I had to hang out in front while my mom shopped.

    Eventually I turned 10 and got a military ID and could go into the supermarket. My mom would buy a huge pile of groceries (because it was a bit of a drive to the base and she only shopped every 2 weeks), and the cashier's fingers would just fly over the mechanical keyboard. I'm surprised their fingers didn't bleed from doing that all day.

    The laser scanners are sooo much better.

    Can you imagine these days leaving your six year old outside while you shopped?

  • leoh 14 hours ago |
    This is one of my favorite poems