Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

I’m a big fan of traditional American main streets. I enjoy perusing the business districts of small towns across the country. Some are making a resurgence; some are in horrible disrepair.

Friendly Mill Street in Bristol, PA has been making a bit of a comeback since our last visit several years ago. There are hardly any closed up store fronts. Cafes, small antique shops, and other locally owned businesses populate the street near the Delaware River, and it is wonderful.

I feel online presences are desperately trying to replace the American village in the sense of becoming a new community. Online connections are wonderful. I have made lots of friends over the Internet, but the friendships really become a connection when we meet in person. I don’t think online interactions will ever replace in person connections where two humans have the opportunity to exchange energy in some way.

I hope before I end this life I’m able to see a real return to the town square, the community center, or the quaint main street. I feel like there’d be less screaming at one another and more positive energy exchanged.

We walked a mall again today. Unlike yesterday’s experience at the Cherry Hill Mall, this mall was a little depressing. Two missing anchor stores, closed up shops everywhere, and the JCPenney was downright depressing. There were blocked off areas where merchandise used to be and a less than enthralling selection of merchandise.

As a Gen-Xer that grew up during the “mall era”, I’m used to shopping malls that thrive with lots of stores, plenty of places to eat, and a variety of merchandise to be found in solid anchor stores at the end of each wing. ‘Tis not the way of the 21st century, where folks now focus on their phones, buying things online, their phones, and socializing via their phones.

While malls were the “fake community” of those earlier times, at least people still had to be frequently present. It’s important for humans to exchange energy in person, not just scream at each other through their little devices. Have conversations, not exchanges of 280 characters. Find the meaning.

And can someone please guide me to middle aged men’s fashions in a mall? Thank you.

It was nice to see a piece of familiarity at the mall today. Though not as big as the original stores, Macy’s seems to be doing a decent job bringing Toys ‘R Us back.