AS IF I HAD A CHOICE

As I was leaving Starbucks today, I noticed the sign that stated, "Thank You For Choosing Starbucks!" Well aren't they appreciative I thought. Yeah, right! Thanks for choosing? Did I have a choice? Well I guess in a sense I did. I could have chosen to sit in my car and write while I waited for three hours for Nico to finish school or I could have chosen them. Not much of a choice I would say. 

It would have been a bigger choice if more coffee shops were allowed to open within so many miles radius of Starbucks. But they aren't. There were some nice little kiosks that used to sell coffee around here until starbucks stepped in and demanded that these little places had to be closed or they would not open in any of the shopping centers. Of course these malls wanted their rent so the little places were shut down. So much for freedom of choice.

As I walked to my car I then thought about the wonderful little book stores that once existed. The ones that knew you and could say, "Hey, we got in a wonderful book  just recently that made me think of you. I know you'll like it." Remember those days? If you don't then your a young kids who doesn't know what community is. You only know Borders and Barnes and Noble. The big guys who moved in and closed down those little stores. 

Lots of places have been shut down by those big conglomerates. Grocery stores, fabric shops, hobby shops, and five and dimes to name a few. Sometimes it made things better but not much. My daughter is looking for a camera for Rachel as she needs it for one of her classes. She has been looking at one of those big office stores. Not one of the sales people can help her as they haven't a clue as to what an f stop is. And neither does my daughter. 

That is the choice we are left with. No interaction, anonymity, and last but not least  no customer service. And if you don't believe me, try walking a half a mile in one of the Home Depot's to find a sales person. 

In a way the price of gas going up was starting to give me hope. People have been staying closer to home. What would that mean for these big stores that are "conveniently" placed miles from your house? Well, I thought that would eventually mean that little stores would start popping up again like in the past. You would be able to walk to your little strip mall but this time it would not be so stripped. a little book store, drug store, hardware etc. might open for your convince and save you gas. We would once again have choice. And the biggest benefit of all would be we would once again become communities. Hum. Maybe we would get to know our neighbor again. What an old fashioned thought. And if I had a choice, that is what I would choose.