Well, I don't know if I'd term it a grudge, but I definitely think this corporate expansion going on in the U.S. is causing regions, neighborhoods, & towns to lose a good deal of their personality and charm.

Maybe I'm being a dinosaur, but I pine for the days when there were independent hardware stores, pharmacies, and markets.

Growing up in Mayfair, the biggest crime of my childhood was when the Mayfair Movie theater (at least the front half of it) became a Thrift Drug (now Eckerd) & when the Mayfair Market became the Drug Palace (now Rite Aid).

I understand that change happens. I know that it is now faster & more convenient with these corporate mega-stores everywhere. Still, there has definitely been something lost.

Errands are just errands now.

My wife is French & how they live their life there is just so damned charming to me. They go shopping at small little specialized neighborhood shops. They buy fresh bread & groceries every day from the smallest, cutest shops & the owners and workers know them. They go for a four o'clock coffee or tea at small bistros or cafes, again welcomed by the owners & workers.

Going on errands in France is actually a great way to spend part of your day. They also walk more and drive a lot less.

The quality of life is just higher the old way. Now, we're in a big rush to get everywhere and we shop at the same monotholic mega-stores and noone knows each other and there is just no charm to it.