ONCE UPON A TIME

There was the Sherman Anti Trust Act. When learning about it, it seemed to mean corporations could not gobble up corporations. And so it was in my youth, that the Dine-A-Mite was independently owned and not bought out by Rex Cafe` which in turn bought out Kief's. There were separate of each other.

But now we have conglomerates.

This thought track started because of an article in Consumer Reports about people knowing they get much better glasses and service from independent optical dispensers than from 'box store glasses" Not a week goes by the Tom doesn't hear the story from someone who has bought cut rate glasses which just don't work and don't fit right.

The sad thing about it is, big companies are buying little optical companies not buy the spoon fulls but rather, by truck loads and what happens is the laboratories are being gobbled up too, making it difficult to get that really great new lens without being part of it.

Old Trunks is not going to throw around names of frame manufacturers, but what she is going to do is hand everyone a tissue because that 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act no longer seems to apply.

Think about this: Pepsi drinker? Brad's Drink, as it was called in 1890 is now a part of Frito-Lay, General Mills, Tropicana, and Quaker Oats. Aren't Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC part of this too? Is that why they serve Pepsi instead of Coke?

Does it matter to you?

e