Local woman tells 16-year-old HyVee employee Lee’s Summit isn’t the same

While leaving her post at customer service for a bathroom break Thursday evening, Lee’s Summit North junior Amanda Blake reported “someone older than most of my teachers” stopped her to tell her the town just isn’t the same as it used to be.

“She was, like, my grandma’s age, maybe older,” Blake said. “At first she wanted to know if she could return something she bought at Price Chopper. I told her we couldn’t do that. It was nonstop from there.”

While ranting that all Lee’s Summit grocery stores used to be owned by the same family and how bad traffic is getting out of her neighborhood, the lifelong Lee’s Summit resident held up Blake for nearly 7 minutes about tales from the 1950s and 60s, regaling the teen with stories from the old high school class, cruising Third Street and a burger joint that she just cannot remember the name of.

“She said she’s lived in the same neighborhood since she was in junior high, whatever that is,” Blake recalled. “But she said it all went to hell when a neighbor got a basketball goal in their driveway.”

Blake was able to finally excuse herself for the restroom, only to encounter the woman minutes later when she realized she had a Missouri Lotto ticket from 2021 in her purse.

“She said if she won she was going to move out of Lee’s Summit. Then she started telling me about going on NextDoor to complain about kids walking down her street.”

The woman then showed Blake a photo of the high school kids taken by her Ring doorbell.

Blake said despite her fears she may run into the woman again, she still plans to be at her shift this weekend at HyVee.

“She told me she’s almost out of stamps. So I’m betting I’ll have to help her again.”