Diamonds in the Rough

Some bad news about the Bimbo Box — on the way to Michigan last week, the timing belt crapped out as we were pulling into our hotel.  So the next day found me spending seven hours getting to the garage and dealing with updates and waiting while they fixed it.  Things have been smooth since, thankfully.

The Pepboys where the BB was getting fixed was in the middle of a parking lot wasteland in Youngstown, Ohio.  There was a mall nearby, and behind and to the left and right of the mall were more strip malls and Home Depots and Kmarts and other stores, all with their own huge parking lots.   (Ooo, it just occured to me — here’s a Google Maps link with satellite view.)  It was as depressing an expanse of retail drear as I could imagine, and I walked around and through it in the drizzling rain because I had already read the book and the magazine I had brought and I had nothing better to do.

And then, rounding the corner by the Hobby Lobby, I saw them up ahead: on my right, a Borders.  On my left, a Chipotle.  I was saved.  It’s a shame that the retail sprawl exhibits such awful urban planning, but we live in a world where you can find awesome burritos and a store with lots of books and comfy chairs to read them in in freakin’ Youngstown, Ohio.  You have to admit, that’s pretty cool.