It was a slow, dreary, damp morning for a walk. Keely took me up around the senior center then over to Duval St. and up to the Publix plaza. In an odd choice (for her), Keely decided to go along the sidewalk up high along the back of the plaza. It’s separated from a dangerous drop by a chain link fence, which does not hide the view but does make it uninteresting, I think, to passerbys. After all, if you are zooming along at 30mph on your way to somewhere else, a chain-link fence is just a signal to not look at what’s behind it because it is unimportant. Chain link fences only keep out stray dogs, stray humans, and observation.
Which is a long way around to say that I know this photo is kind of boring and uninteresting, but that is what interested me about it. It is the view down on the plaza from over the chain link fence and it shows the plainly ugly utilitarian design of most strip malls:
Why even bother with the grass there? I’m sure it serves some psychological purpose, keenly studied by marketers and architects trying to find the best way to lure shoppers into complacency. That sounds cynical but people do indeed study and analyze such things, because in a capitalist society such as ours, luring people in to places where they spend money is a life-or-death battle.
I find it fascinating to look straight on at the things we try to hide, as a society. Utility boxes and garbage bins and dull architecture and trash.
Update on the End Times Country Buffet:
They have swapped out bulldozers for I don’t know why. The replacement looks a bit beefier than the one that was there earlier this week, but on the other hand it doesn’t seem to be doing anything. There is demolition going on but it mostly looks like stuff being done by hand, such as facing torn off and windows popped out. The A/C units on the roof are still there, implying the roof is still there at least in part. What is noticeably missing is any kind of industrial garbage container.
But what do I know, I’m not a demolition expert.