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...well sure; third places were locked-down this century to 'deter crime' and since retail died there's nowhere to go anymore...
...back to your cell morlock, we expect you on-station at eight o'clock tomorrow morning...
Maybe US cities lack public spaces and no one can afford to do things in the private spaces?
There is no "third place" anymore. Unless you go to church or some shit.
Makes you wonder how much the rise of conservative evangelical Christianity and megachurches has to do with sheer social desperation.
What would you even do? Read a book, play a game, browse your phone, or something in these public spaces? What’s the difference between at home and in a public space with people?
People always talk about public spaces as if magically they would pull people in simply by existing and everyone would socialize with anyone else that showed up. That’s not what happens in reality though, because there are still public places in America and yet here we are anyway.
What would you even do? Read a book, ...? What’s the difference between at home and in a public space with people?
I went on a few dates with a woman who saw me reading a book in public and started a conversation. I'm not a social person, but talking to strangers is nice, from time to time.
We're social animals. Most of us benefit from interaction. Society is better when we interact with people outside our normal bubbles.
Drink
...a posh private reading lounge recently opened our city, well-stocked with whisky and cigars...
I saw a naked man masturbating on a unicycle once. So that's always an option.
You can do a potluck cheaply at someone's home. It's that people don't
...yeah, i don't have time for social dinners; after three hours commute to-and-from a useless trophy-office in the city, i'm exhausted and already running late for work by the time i get home...
Maybe they're exhausted after working 3 jobs to pay rent.
That's long been true for a chunk of the population. It's not enough to explain the trend
That chunk is getting bigger though.
Damn right. It costs money to go most places and I've got too much to do.
All well and good to go out to eat with some people every now and then, or go to a park for a walk, but I'm not able to eat out all the time or drive all over the place and I don't really like shopping.
I feel like if I can go to work and get my chores done during the week, I'm doing good. Then I've got one day to get groceries and run errands, and one day to relax.
When I was younger, I'd run about a bit more, but I'm tired and have too much to do.
What's the point of going anywhere? There's really not much of an incentive to go out there. We have better games at home than in arcades. You can stream an endless amount of content for your entertainment. You can work from home, you can have food and groceries delivered. No need to ever deal with strangers. It's great.
this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2025
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