Stopped off for some groceries at Food Lion in Floyd late Sunday night.

Ohmigod! Did he say Food Lion? Quick, somebody call the political corrrectness police!

You see, in Floyd, is is not politically correct to shop at Food Lion. It’s one of those dreaded “chain” stores. Same goes for munching on a pork chop bisquit at Hardees for breakfast. God forbid that we stop to pick up something necessary at the new Dollar General when it opens.

This is where I part company with some of my more hysterical friends. We buy a lot of our groceries at the locally-owned Slaughters. I went to school with Lonnie Slaughter. But at 10:15 p.m. on a Sunday night the only game in town is Food Lion and I’m not about to forgo something we need just because it is sold at a chain store. I also happen to like the pork chop bisquits at Hardees and the turkey sub at Subway.

Hardees came to town several years ago amid predictions of doom and gloom for Floyd. The other restaurants in town are still open and thriving. Some of those who predicted the worst now gather for coffee and gossip at the fast-food restaurant each morning. Food Lion opened a year ago and Slaughters is still going strong. True, Farmer’s Food closed but anyone who shopped there will tell you that was no great loss. When Dollar General opens the only store it will compete with is another chain store at the other end of town — Family Dollar.

It’s called supply and demand. It’s also called additional places for people who live here to work. When Food Lion opened, an assistant manager for a local store went to work there as a cashier — because Food Lion paid more.