Albertsons market, the one I walk to almost every day, is having a Grand Opening. There are strings of flags stretched between light poles and huge signs announcing it. Merriam-Webster defines Grand Opening as “a special celebration held to mark the opening of a new business or public place (such as a park or stadium.)” The problem is that Albertsons has been there for years. It isn’t new at all. What is new is the reworking of the produce department and new glass fronted cabinets in the deli and in the meat department in the back corner of the store. Not the entire meat department, just the glass fronted cabinets in the corner.

I’m not saying that these improvements aren’t nice. They are very nice. Over a period of months and at great expense they were installed during the late night shift. So, Albertsons never closed. It was just a mess for a long time and now that job has been completed. So they might have a Just Finished a Partial Remodel Celebration, or some such thing, but not a Grand Opening. They also can’t have a Reopening or Grand Reopening, because first they would have to close in order to reopen.

This is very much like the humorous ending of Sunshine Cleaning Company (2008) where Joe (Alan Arkin) sells his house to buy his daughter Rose (Amy Adams) a new van with the sign Lorkowski Sunshine Cleaning Company on the side. She looks at the sign and says, “Since 1963?” “Yeah, it gives a sense of stability. People like that.” “It's a lie,” she responds. “It’s a business lie,” he answers. “It’s different from a life lie.”

Of course life and movies are different. Albertsons wants us to feel excited about having a new Albertsons in the neighborhood, even if it’s an old, somewhat redone Albertsons. It’s just an innocent business lie. But when they sell Fresh Made sandwiches in the cold section, and the sticker says they were made three days earlier, is that just to make us feel good about our ham and cheese factory made sandwich, or is there something inherently dishonest about it? Yes, the sandwich was fresh made, but the sandwich was made three days ago. That, I believe, is a life lie. It’s like having to ask how old the freshly caught fish is. Was it freshly caught this week or last week? The line between business lie and life lie can be very thin.