A victory is a win, no matter how small it is

It's the little victories that count the most, I think.

Sure, it would be nice to come up with a surefire plan for world peace. Or a cure for any deadly disease. Or even a cereal package that is truly easy to open, like it says on the box.

Most of us though, should be satisfied with small achievements. I have personally experienced some of those tiny wins, and I feel great.

For example, the management of one of the supermarkets where we regularly shop appears to have paid attention when I groused, not so terribly long ago, that it consistently understaffed its checkout lanes. I said that at any given time the store had two fewer cashiers than it needed to prevent long waits in line for its customers.

Moreover, I said, there were certain off-peak hours of the day when there were no human cashiers at all, and customers had to use the self-checkout lanes. Or leave.

I don't have anything against self-checkout lanes. Many shoppers prefer them. But every store with self-checkout lanes must provide staffing to assist befuddled customers who get confused or have purchased a six-pack of beer, requiring a live human being to determine if some pimply-faced teenager is attempting the beer purchase.

Now for my little victory in this regard:

The abovementioned store has, in recent weeks, beefed up its checkout staffing, and the lines are what I would call appropriate for a busy supermarket. I cannot, of course, take all the credit, but I will take my share.

Another wee win in the supermarket department involves packaging. I am referring to the trend to package food in quantities that force a customer to purchase much more of a product than he wants.

Take bologna.

No, really. Take it.

Look at the package. Chances are there's enough bologna in the package to feed an entire Cub Scout troop with enough left over for Uncle Bob's poker night.

Problem is, we don't have any Cub Scouts in our family. And if I tried to keep up with my poker-playing buddies, I'd be in the poorhouse faster than you can say "Aces over threes." Or whatever it is good poker players say when they lay down their winning hands.

So, what happens to all that leftover bologna? It sits in the refrigerator until it starts to curl around the edges and has to be thrown away.

But this week we went to a supermarket that listens to its customers. At least, that's what appears to have happened. My wife and I were hungry for a bologna sandwich layered with slices of ripe red tomatoes fresh from the garden. Not our garden, of course, since we can't afford to grow tomatoes, what with the deer and squirrels and birds and so on.

Lo and behold, there in the supermarket's meat section was a reasonable package of bologna, enough for two decent sandwiches and maybe enough left for one more sandwich while tomatoes are at their peak.

Thank you, Supermarket Manager. Thank you for stocking bologna packages that fit the lifestyle of two retirees who hate to throw anything away.

Chalk up yet another teensy-weensy victory for us.

There are many more battles to be fought, of course. You know what you face as you slog through life's challenges. Maybe you have won a couple of battles along the way. I'd like to hear about them. There's no better way to start the day than listening to someone recount how he or she beats "the system." Particularly if the system is one that is easily fixable if someone in charge is paying the least amount of attention.

For example, what about those stores that advertise a product for a really great price but put a limit on how many you can purchase? What's the point? This arbitrary limit simply forces you to go through the line five or six times to get all you want.

Which would be OK, but this great sale is at the store that is always short two cashiers. Remember?

Small victories. Take them whenever you can. Wherever you can. However you can. They make everything else seem like less of a drudge.

That's a good thing.

Joe Sullivan is the retired editor of the Southeast Missourian.