GOOD. GO AWAY.

Almost every week the news brings another mention of a store in Union Square closing. These are all places where I do not shop; largely I avoid Union Square because it tastes too much like a suburban theme park at exorbitant almost Disneyland prices. There used to be two tobacconists, six good bookstores, and a few old-fashioned clothiers there, but in the past few decades those have all disappeared because men don't smoke pipes and cigars very much anymore, people don't read, and tweedy garb is dreadfully boomer, omg.

Nearly every week I hear from people who had a box at Dunhill. Which shut down in 1990. Fine place. Snooty attitude, but once a go-to retailer. Gumps has been more or less out of the picture for twenty years. The fountain pen shop disappeared a long time ago too.

Basically, inner city fancy-pants shopping districts have been a disaster for regular people for a long time now.

Before she started working in our operations department, a good friend was employed at a severely old school clothing store known for fine tailoring, men's goods, and tweed. My dad had shopped there after the war, years before we moved overseas. When I returned to the States I also patronized them for a while. Their most recent location that I remember has become a fancy coffee shop where one can have hot or cold stimulating beverages personalized with syrups, whips, and sprinkles. Oh la effing la.

The San Francisco from the movies hasn't existed since the eighties at the latest, much of it disappeared long before then. As long as neighborhoods like Chinatown and North Beach are still operational, the place is worth living in, but we'd rather you didn't visit.
For one thing, y'all eat too much, smell bad, and dress funny.

And when two of you big people walk side by side, you fill the sidewalk.
Did I already mention that you eat too much?
Donuts!




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