Ghost Town

In a city that hibernates every Sunday and Monday, it's hard to find a good restuarant with reasonable hours so I usually end up at an oasis called The Boll Weevil. Shortly before I arrived, the motor in the grill hood went out, thus disabling preparation of all non-sandwich or dessert meals. So people had to be turned away. Most of these people were either not locals (and by that I mean foreigners from Columbia county or farther) and so had no idea where else to go. Sadly, there is nowhere else to go. This place is abandoned until Tuesday.

Two women from Indiana struck up a conversation with the lady that runs the Weevil. As with all the others, aspects of the city came up with the caption "What IS there to do here?!?". Well, Lance Armstrong announced his retirement here just a few days ago. That's an "historical event". Right. That's a Trivial Pursuit question people 30 years from now won't know the answer to. More precisely, Lance Armstrong is the question, not the answer:

"In what city did Lance Armstrong formally announce his retirement from cycling?"
"Oh geez, I know I know this one... give me a second."

The other two recent events worth note concerned the two criminals who travelled here from elsewhere and were caught. Not the type of business you want to attract and not the type of story that will bring people here!

It's a chicken and egg problem. The businesses almost conspire to not be open on Sunday and Monday. The clear majority of them aren't. People who would come down here to eat or go to the galleries don't because they know this. The waitress and I discussed it for awhile. She said it's very German, having spent a week in Germany once, where all shops close early and stay closed, I guess, until Tuesday. "Except in the Americano section". So not only is the city second-rate, we're also third world. My apologies to Europe but you're completely outclassed by American culture, and yes, I know that sounds French, but in our case it's true. So when are businesses around here going to stop being chicken and start being egg? Starbucks, we need you now more than ever!