Office Depot insults my intelligence...

[SmokeBombShoe]

Oh that's good (not really but its better than what I thought)
So if these places all suck so much way isn't there an alternative?

[yasunobu13]

I think Alex said it well enough.

Originally posted by PAlexC
Welcome to the new commercial America.

Big, faceless corporations managing by the scientific method that time=money and employees are automatons that answer to bells and whistles, not human beings who hate having a crappy job, and get paid the same minimum wage regardless.

No more Mom & Pop shops where customer service reigns and the kids they hire work there summer after summer and actually learn something.

Target, Walmart, McDonalds, Wendy's, Office Depot, Home Depot, Olive Garden, TGI Fridays.

Why bother vacationing in a different part of the country? It's all the same crap.

[hurricaneone]

I read that and I think that PAlexC should've been born 50 years ago. NOT that I disagree, in fact, I think it's a vert eloquent discription of many Western nations (the names and logos change, but the attitude remains the same), but despite the fact that I intensely dislike the fact that spicy food is generally toned down because some jerk someplace else was on a panel and voted against the 'extra spicy' version (and that focus group's opinion became law), I still think we have it marginally better than when people had to go to the North Pole for a bag of ice.

[PAlexC]

Originally posted by hurricaneone
I read that and I think that PAlexC should've been born 50 years ago. NOT that I disagree, in fact, I think it's a vert eloquent discription of many Western nations (the names and logos change, but the attitude remains the same), but despite the fact that I intensely dislike the fact that spicy food is generally toned down because some jerk someplace else was on a panel and voted against the 'extra spicy' version (and that focus group's opinion became law), I still think we have it marginally better than when people had to go to the North Pole for a bag of ice.

You calling me a crotchity old curmudgeon? You young whippersnapper! I oughta tan your hide.

We definately do have it better, but at what cost? Homogenized society. We need to balance it out a bit.

[johnie]

I don't really think it is corperate America directly responsible here for this. There are plenty of places in the US where there is no OfficeMax, Wendy's, TGI Friday, or even McDonalds and the service is still bad. I know this becuase where I live now there are several of these areas within driving distance of me. I think it is a myth that all or most Mom and Pop stores provided better service.

You can have a porly managed Mom and Pop store or a poorly managed Corp store. The results are still the same.