Lost in Homogeny

Here’s an interesting insight from a business traveler who has spent way too much time on the road.

In a moment of panic, Emily Esterson suddenly had no idea where she was. I’ve done so before, waking up in the morning, slightly confused, but not in the middle of the day as Esterson did.

Esterson had just been shopping in some type of office equipment superstore and when she walked out, she had that panicked moment. Where was she? She scanned the area for some visual clues and saw what most anyone in America sees when they scan the landscape; Wal-Mart, TGI Fridays, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, and a handful of other chain stores encountered all throughout America. There was not a single, unique storefront that would key her into her location. The shopping center was just like any shopping center anywhere.

What makes this most frightening is that she eventually learned she was in her home town.

When so much of everywhere else looks so much like here, it sort of makes me wonder why people travel at all. Just look at that Best Buy in the photo above. Is that the one in your home town, or could it possibly be the one in Albuquerque?

Fortunately, such retail homogeny doesn’t exist in other countries as much as it does here in the USA so I can still escape that feeling of sameness by traveling abroad. There is no escaping it here, however. It depresses me every time I pull into some small town while on an road trip in America and can’t find anywhere to eat other than Subway, McDonalds, Starbucks, or some other fast food joint exactly like the ones I left 500 miles behind me back home. Ugh.