A note on how the rest of the country lives
I’m sitting in a place called Corner Bakery, which is part of the King of Prussia Mall. It’s next to the largest Crate & Barrel store I’ve ever seen in my life. This “cafe” is the size of a city block.
Here you eat oversized cookies, soups, sandwiches and anything else you can find to fill your face. You drive here in your SUV and park as close as you can to the entrance. You listen to Frank Sinatra playing while you eat a ham and swiss grilled panini the size of my arm. Everything is wasteful: the size of this place, the amount of food on your plate, the gas guzzler you drive to get here.
Enjoy it while it lasts!
(“The rest of America bashing” feels good, I do it all the time, but it suggests that in NYC we do it all differently. Really we don’t. The Olive Garden and Bubba Gump’s probably make more money in Manhattan than the Village Voice these days. King of Prussia Mall, Time Warner Mall, Atlantic Center Mall, the corner of Broadway & Houston - it’s all the same place. And is there such a big difference between a food court and three restaurants in Brooklyn that share the same kitchen?)
