tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post6406771647739704876..comments2023-06-11T02:19:27.429-07:00Comments on Academic Cog: A Tale of Two Big Box StoresSisyphushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09880634753539329199noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-79447153161308329942013-08-30T08:13:16.362-07:002013-08-30T08:13:16.362-07:00It seems like everybody must hang out somewhere (o...It seems like everybody must hang out somewhere (other than Starbucks): church? the local high school football games/other activities? the Elks/VFA hall? Maybe it would help to sit in Starbucks and eavesdrop to see where the other patrons are coming from/going to? Or maybe you need to take up rock climbing (or communing with Rocks, or whatever the local customs for interacting with the local rocks are). <br /><br />I wonder whether the issue is partly demographic, i.e. the place is mostly geared to some demographic other than yours: families with young children or retirees/empty-nesters or whatever. One demographic that may well be missing that was present in other places you lived is the grad-student one, which, of course, overlaps closely with yours: the young-single-faculty one. <br /><br />Still, there have got to be at least some people somewhere reasonably near with similar desires and interests, and at least a few venues that cater to them. As Belle says, they're probably just more hidden than you're used to. Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-2360421927201125602013-08-30T05:28:44.581-07:002013-08-30T05:28:44.581-07:00I'd guess that socialization isn't so much...I'd guess that socialization isn't so much going public someplace, but more private, like some one's house or apartment. And that the local cafes & restaurants aren't out of the various neighborhoods. There are probably some ethnic places buried in the appropriate neighborhoods, and unwilling/unable to pay the rents on the Big Store Strip streets. <br /><br />That's the way it is here in RNC; yes there are the big box stores and the chain restaurants, but they are clustered together. Get into the neighborhoods (which you'd swear aren't there) and you find some tiny little Thai or Guatemalan place with five tables.Bellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10849272391043604637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-6518976509026803892013-08-29T21:02:37.603-07:002013-08-29T21:02:37.603-07:00Your town is also bigger than mine.
We have neith...Your town is also bigger than mine.<br /><br />We have neither Lower's nor Home Depot, but another big box that is evil (as in, the owner got caught dumping toxic waste in his home sewer evil). We have Walmart and Target, the office twins, but none of the others you mention that I've seen.<br /><br />But yeah, even if we had both competitors, there's little to tell them apart.<br /><br />Fortunately, we do have a remarkably good restaurant selection of small independent places with good but not too expensive food.Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-24200788593264930022013-08-29T20:34:50.294-07:002013-08-29T20:34:50.294-07:00Your city is bigger than mine. We have Staples on...Your city is bigger than mine. We have Staples only, pier One but not Cost Plus; Petsmart here, Petco in the next town. We do have both Home Depot and Lowes, as wellas Walmart &Target. Costco, but no Trader Joes (thEy have metrics for population and per capita income that my towm misses.)<br /><br />What you find in such places is that you may not seethe same people at the same time, but you start seeing people in different places - not where you first ran into them. It's weird.<br />Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716705206734059708noreply@blogger.com