Urban blight
Usually when we watch something deteriorate, the impact of our observation is tempered by the span of time it takes for the event to happen. Much as the beginning of life is a slow and steady process that marches along with time, so is the death of things. This gradual progression of events helps our minds acclimate to the adjustment in reality. This basic truth was very much violated today when I visited an ingles grocery store to pick up some food for a Memorial Day cookout. I had last visited this store about seven years ago when it very much still a gleaming beacon of commerce. I find there is a certain quality that is reflected in young things both organic and inorganic; they hold all the promise of the future within them, it is almost as if hope, dreams and imagination where bottled up and waiting to be discovered. But the last seven years had not been kind to this store. The parking lot was almost deserted. Garbage was collecting near a clothes for charity drop off box. And the building looked many years older than it seemed it should. I found myself very saddened during this visit. The shock of seeing something in the final phase of existence was not the depressing part; it was the sudden change in reality, and how this change brilliantly highlighted this phase. Maybe this was a more personal revelation? I guess I had realized that while I did not notice, time had moved on.
posted by Barry @ 11:01 PM
1 Comments:
That is an interesting thought. As I thought more about your comments, I realized that it is a shining example of how fickle Americans are about EVERYTHING. Even here in Merced, it's interesting to walk through downtown and see abandonded buildings or closed shops. Earlier this week I saw a "Medical Uniform" place that had been there for 20 years having a going out of business sale.
It was actually kind of sad, watching the owner in there boxing stuff up. I wanted to take pictures, but my camera is nowhere to be found.
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