Ah, the high street! It brings back such memories... of my foreign observer confusion!
I mean, if Saturday is the busiest shopping day, by far, in England... why do the shops still close at 5 or 6? Clearly there's more money to be made by staying open until 9 or 10, right? And the only reason Saturday's so busy is because the shops close at 5-6 EVERY DAY which means people who work - ie. most of us - stand no chance of getting any shopping done during the whole week. That leaves Saturday for a frantic bustle of people to fight the clock so as not to have another Cinderella experience come 5pm. And even if the shops refuse to stay open on Saturdays, then why is Sunday considered a novelty to be open? I mean, if any day had the financial promise of a Saturday at the shops... it'd be Sunday when everyone's still off!
Imagine a world where the weekend wasn't spent running a weeks worth of pent up errands.
All that said, there's something much nicer about the high street than the American mall. More community oriented. More personal.
And don't get me started on the 24 hour Walmart! There is something to be said for being open too much. :-)
Can it be that the two most frequent commentators on Duncan's blog are from LA, of all places? In that context, we've got enough malls here to make me yearn for a busy high street any day. I remember when Duncan and my other friend Sean came to visit in the States and traveled around asking, "but where's the high street? where's the main commerce area?" Much like when the Swedes I know come and ask, "but where's the main town square?" I guess we lack all of that and make up for it by driving big cars through huge traffic jams to synthetic locales to buy disposable goods.
Wow... I'm nearly ready to move back! Oh... congrats on the Olympics. If nothing else, you'll have plenty of footage to slow down, blur, and make noise to. ;-)
it's weird how you both think this street is somehow better than malls, all i see is chain stores and glazed eyes, the same ones on every high street in every town.. i guess that's why it upset me... but after today i think there;s more important things to consider...
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6 comments:
Ah, the high street! It brings back such memories... of my foreign observer confusion!
I mean, if Saturday is the busiest shopping day, by far, in England... why do the shops still close at 5 or 6? Clearly there's more money to be made by staying open until 9 or 10, right? And the only reason Saturday's so busy is because the shops close at 5-6 EVERY DAY which means people who work - ie. most of us - stand no chance of getting any shopping done during the whole week. That leaves Saturday for a frantic bustle of people to fight the clock so as not to have another Cinderella experience come 5pm. And even if the shops refuse to stay open on Saturdays, then why is Sunday considered a novelty to be open? I mean, if any day had the financial promise of a Saturday at the shops... it'd be Sunday when everyone's still off!
Imagine a world where the weekend wasn't spent running a weeks worth of pent up errands.
All that said, there's something much nicer about the high street than the American mall. More community oriented. More personal.
And don't get me started on the 24 hour Walmart! There is something to be said for being open too much. :-)
Funny,
Can it be that the two most frequent commentators on Duncan's blog are from LA, of all places? In that context, we've got enough malls here to make me yearn for a busy high street any day. I remember when Duncan and my other friend Sean came to visit in the States and traveled around asking, "but where's the high street? where's the main commerce area?" Much like when the Swedes I know come and ask, "but where's the main town square?" I guess we lack all of that and make up for it by driving big cars through huge traffic jams to synthetic locales to buy disposable goods.
Wow... I'm nearly ready to move back! Oh... congrats on the Olympics. If nothing else, you'll have plenty of footage to slow down, blur, and make noise to. ;-)
all ok here... and friends accounted for.
it's weird how you both think this street is somehow better than malls, all i see is chain stores and glazed eyes, the same ones on every high street in every town.. i guess that's why it upset me... but after today i think there;s more important things to consider...
Duncan,
As I wrote Alex yesterday, friends across the Atlantic are thinking of you.
Be well,
Craig
Simply beautiful.
really cool again duncan i love it :) please never stop !! lol
John
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