Post #4774 by theandrewssister on Wed, Jul 31, 2002 11:06 AM

hmmm.. sorry. I know in advance I am going to get a torrent of nostalgic recidivism on my head BUT... let's play a little Devil's Advocate here...

(and remember -- this may be off topic but I didn't start it...)

I DO NOT GET THIS. Who are these half-baked, individual corner stores actually loved by? The likes of ME, that's who. Working-class-turned wannabe-middle-class romantics, that's who. The older element of my family (London East End dockers all), quite rightly, are overwhelmed with relief that the advent of the BIG MALL means they can get what they need, easily. They don't give a hoot about the charm of ye olde corner shoppe and some vision of Fifties days gone by. They remember that world as a nightmare of rationing and lack of choice. It is we (grammar? oh hell), their spoiled children, who invest that inadequate, unpleasant reality with the stuff of Ealing comedy or old Americana (depending which continent you hail from). Yes, it would be lovely to have both -- but the stark reality is that, if our grandpappies had had the choice of Ol' Bob on the corner AND Walmart, Ol' Bob would have disappeared every bit as quickly as he's disappearing now. Or - and some of you may see this as worse -- Ol' Bob would turn into a high-class niche marketeer whose prices exclude all but the middle-class nostalgia-fiends who never knew wht it was like not to have a choice. The bottom line is -- if people want it, it'll survive. If they don't, it won't. What right do the likes of ME have to argue?

Ok, OK, I know I am now going to disappear under an avalanche of disapproval -- but I'm just interested to hear what y'all have to say (if only to give me some ammo the next time my cousins start in on me...)