Ordinary Nothing

Almost every weeks there’s a new study claiming people here are afraid of terror attacks,

and are staying home more instead of going out.

The same reports also keep claiming that this causes lack of clients for restaurants, making them close.

And they don’t recycle the same old news. These are newer studies showing people that

recently change their habits and stopped going out. And new names of places closing down

since they don’t have enough customers to keep themselves in business.

Overall, one can easily expect that a visit to the once teeming night-life centers of

several years ago will now reveal desolate ghost towns.
This would make sense. It would fit the theories. It would fit the studies. It would fit

common knowledge.

But it doesn’t work if you let minor things like facts confuse you:

• The amount of areas hosting coffee shops, pubs and restaurants is growing.

• The amount of coffee shops, pubs and restaurants overall in those areas is growing.

• The amount of people wandering at night in those areas is growing.

• The amount of cars trying to park at these places at night is growing, as evidenced by the

  fact that the amount of time it takes to find a parking place is… you guessed it.. growing.

It is true that restaurants keep closing down, but that’s due to the same reasons it has

happened for hundreds of years: Competition and the market. With more and more places opening, staying in

business requires something in the ways of quality, price, uniqueness, and plain luck.

All of which, while inexact and not very scientific, clearly indicates that people are not

staying more and more at home for fear of terror acts.
Sorry.

December 14th, 2004 at 20:58 EET | Categories: Culture | Track comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.