During the summer after my eighth birthday, my parents packed my three siblings and me into our ‘90 VW station wagon to drive from Chicago down to Teralingua, Tex. to visit my grandfather. Back then, a night out at Chevy’s was an exciting occasion reserved for birthdays and baptisms, so three road-trip days of Waffle Houses and Burger Kings were about as good as it got. (Now that I’ve grown up and live in San Francisco, finding a meal at any of these establishments is pretty tough.) During our road trip, we stopped at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma City to rejuvenate our snack pile – and get a bribe of a new stuffed animal cow. Now, I couldn’t even tell you where the nearest Wal-Mart is. The big chains seem such a part of America’s vast mid-section.
Image: http://www.forbes.com - Tom Post
