[Today’s run: 3.5 miles]
We had family over to the house for a nice July 4th yesterday, shot off a few firecrackers and ate a lot.
Today I’m at the Books-A-Million cafe while my wife is at the hair salon. This morning I thought about coming here.
I was reminded of a movie from a few years ago. You’ve Got Mail is a Nora Ephron romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. This was their third romantic comedy together (after Joe Versus the Volcano and Sleepless in Seattle). It is about an email romance. Hanks plays a bookstore mogul, Joe Fox, and he wipes out Ryan’s small bookstore by putting up a Fox Books superstore down the block.
So, here I am 12 years later and large bookstores are drying up and disappearing. About the time that movie came out Amazon.com was changing the book market completely. Borders Books is gone and Barnes & Noble is getting into e-readers and other avenues to try to stay in business.
The movie makes a big deal over the big mean company conquering all in its path. Ha! Fox Books would be dried up and gone by now, if it really existed.
On the other hand, it is a regular comedic theme to note old laws, ordinances and regulations that are antiquated but still in effect, things like not being able to spit on the sidewalk or drive a car over 5 mph without a flag-waver to march ahead.
Businesses come and go. Newer businesses spring up to take advantage of the new arrangements of life. When those go by the way the businesses either change or die. Government lasts forever (or as close to it as we can get.)
I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere.
