"Oh we just hated going over there and giving those people all our money for gas and cigarettes," says Crackersboro resident Helen Broward, 64. "What we needed was a local boy to sell us what we needed at a reasonable price, and Jim Peabody has been doing that for 25 years."
Peabody's good service and decent prices have kept customers loyal and satisfied. Until recently that is. Last Spring when the air compressor that the customers use to inflate tires broke down he had to buy a new one.
"I was amazed at how expensive them things are," says Peabody about the new compressor. "It's been a sight few years since I bought one last. I didn't have much choice but to go with one that takes quarters. Especially with that new Sheetz open down the road."
Peabody is referring to the Sheetz gas station that opened 3 months ago and has been steadily drawing customers away from Peabody's with fresh coffee, tasty hot sandwiches and incredibly low gas prices! And free air.
"I'm struggling here, what with the high cigarette prices and the crackdown on selling tobacco to kids, that's a whole revenue stream shot to hell. So, if it means people hafta pay 50 cents for air, then I'm sorry, but they're just gonna hafta," justifies Peabody.
"Well I won't pay for air," says Broward. "I don't care if Sheetz does hire the colored to manage their store, I'm going over there because their air is free."
"I agree," says Tim Shuckel, 42, of Crackersboro. "Except for the colored remark, I don't think Negroes like to be called colored anymore. But I won't pay for air either. This is a safety issue. You have to have your tires inflated correctly. And to charge me 50 cents for the 5 PSI I might need to keep my car on the road is as bad as Hymie's charging by the minute for the bathroom key. My uncle told me that's how it used to be over at Hymie's. Maybe it ain't like that no more, I don't know, but what I do know is that if a filling station wants to charge 50 cents for air, they lose my business, plain and simple. Well, unless I'm running late."
As for the "colored" manager at the Sheetz down the road, he says, "It's company policy that air is free, it's the least we can do for our loyal customers, even the straight-out racist ones." He went on to wonder aloud what he was thinking when he took a job in a town named Crackersboro.
