"Ya know, Walmart is going to shut down Ringling Bros Circus. Who wants to wait a whole year for them to come to town when you can go to Walmart and see the circus every day of the week...for free too!"
I am finding that more and more that people like to do things for attention at Wal-Mart (thus, the circus-like displays), but maybe also because we lack outlets for this expression. We have a disjointed sense of community since we became a suburban culture during the last century. We have circuses, county fairs, etc., but what would be nice is for us to have town "plazas" and neighborhood centers instead of all this build-up. You end up with convenience but end up with harmful by-products like homogenous business (no diversity, no interest) and limited choices (small businesses suffer in competition).
The areas these occupy are usually filled by parking lots for a very great distance in every direction. I call them "concrete oases." Quite apropos for the wasteland of tattered modesty and decency in which we live.
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