I’m back in the states for holidays but this time it was such a shock to realize everything looks so old, like from the airport to the convenience stores, malls, gas stations, etc. Why does everything look like it hasn’t changed from the 90s? And I was out just for a couple of months but things look newer and shinier in Panama and El Salvador compared to here. I cannot even imagine what some of you coming back from east Asia must feel. Did our country peak in the 90s and other countries are going through their renaissance? I love the convenience of the US where everything is open 24 hrs and you can get things delivered to your door basically overnight if you pay the price but I feel like we’re stuck with very old and boring infrastructure, makes me feel almost the same way I felt when I went to eastern Europe

  • laughing_cat@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    The US has become a corporate oligarchy. That’s why tax dollars are less & less spent on infrastructure and why many businesses do the minimum up keep.

    And most businesses literally do the minimum. I moved from an affluent part of Houston where people expect things to be nice to a small sad little town known for having a meth problem. The first thing I noticed was how sad the fast food places, pharmacies & grocery stores are. The Kroger is never clean inside, Burger King, Jack in Box, KFC and Wendy’s are disgusting inside & out and CVS & Walgreen’s don’t maintain their buildings. The only places that do are McDonald’s Chick Fil A and Taco Bell and they happen to be on the interstate.

    • iVisibility@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      The interior cleanliness/upkeep is the responsibility of the store managers and employees though. I think it’s more of a reflection of the average level of standards and care of people that live in that town. It may very well be the case that the people that live/work there have no issues with the level of cleanliness, and personally I see nothing wrong with that.

      • laughing_cat@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        Kroger rotates store managers every two years. And true, they obviously know the people in this town aren’t used to any better. But you don’t think they deserve what Kroger offers elsewhere?

        Let’s just have lower standards because these people don’t know any better. lmao