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12/25/2005 Archived Entry: "Knee Braska"
Knee Braska
Back from the Heartland. Nebraska is the center of fast food, franchises, mobile homes, Colorado beer, and everything Detroit is not. While it is the capital, downtown Lincoln seems to have little character. There is a nice coffee shop, a good Indian restuarant, and a line of college type bars (and streets organized by the alphabet: O street, P street...). Am I snooty? Probably. I'm not a big city person, but I'm amazed by how quickly our culture becomes just a string of fast food and franchise outlets. Nebraska foregrounds that process more so than many other places.
The girl's family, however, is quite delightful.
Now we return to an empty fridge and every grocery shut down for the big day. How do you eat on the 25th when you been away and when you ain't Christian?
I ended up at a Walgreen's this morning buying cream for our coffee. In front of me, a woman is buying 100 bucks worth of crap. Obvious last minute shopping. But I'm thinking: I bet you don't have a lot of money (I say this because of the neighborhood I'm in), and you are throwing it away on junk (Santa trays, Barbie clone dolls, a singing Santa). You are everything that makes Walgreen's and all franchises possible.
Replies: 2 comments
Was about to say that I have never been to a city where there wasn't a stream of franchises. So ditto to Jenny's comment.
It's all a matter of how much time and effort you put into searching for the mom-and-pop restaurants and stores off the neon-sign track.
Lincoln is not Nebraska in sum. Lincoln is just a rest stop along the national artery known as I-80. The soul of Nebraska is elsewhere.
Posted by c-m @ 12/28/2005 09:23 PM EST
You're totally right. Detroit really isn't a stream of fast food franchises. (Oops, except for the Coney Islands and White Castles and McDonalds on every corner.)
Posted by The Girl @ 12/25/2005 12:19 PM EST