Dear Tim:
I’ve figured out what it is about those one-off places. Those coffee shops, restaurants, stores, those places that are unique and special and yet get passed over by so many of us. At first it seems like it’s because they are unfamiliar, and then it seems like it’s because they are too familiar, but now I know it’s none of that.
We don’t like the boutiques because we don’t like being off-grid. There is a national consciousness, and even a global consciousness that comes with knowing we all drank coffee from the same cup and ate a sandwich from the same kitchen. And when we tell our friends where we were they will understand because they were there too.
It’s not that we don’t like the unique places, it’s just that we don’t like being unplugged from the collective consciousness for too long.
rc