Douche Bags and Venti Lattes

Well, they finally did it. They shut down my favorite place in the entire universe.

The Scottsdale Drive-In.

It was, incidentally, also the only thing in Scottsdale that I loved and/or respected.

The drive-in is the absolute best way to watch movies. We'd sneak in pizza, soda, bouncing castles, and the occasional endangered species.

I read about why the drive-in shut down. Since they didn't make money off of the movies, they had to make up for it with their concessions. And they didn't. That's when I realized that the drive-in shut down because of me.

It was really kind of a humbling experience. You see, I learned something about myself today. I learned that the movie industry is full of money hungry vultures and douche bags. I guess that's not really about me at all. I mean, I kind of learned that I should support the places I love instead of going there for the atmosphere. In the end, I suppose I'm the real vulture douche bag.

Sadly, it took something I love being taken away from me to realize that. Did your eyes get a little watery there? Neither did mine. I suppose it's difficult to mine for emotions when you're writing from a Starbucks.

Seriously though, Starbucks is an attractive succubus.

As I sit here enjoying the free Wi-Fi to compliment my cold glass of free water (I didn't even have to use my gift card!), I've realized that's it's all about independently owned businesses. The bigger we let these big companies get, the fewer cool places we'll have to go to. The truth is big companies are the reasons all of our jobs are going to China and India. And we all complain about it like we don't have a choice, but we're the ones who are financing these companies every time we buy something from them.

Small companies and little shops make me realize that any one of us can do the same thing. Big companies make me feel like a slave who does what he's told. The American dream isn't getting the cheapest price at Wal-Mart. I'd like to believe that the American dream is about finding your niche, doing what you love, and establishing yourself as a creator rather than a consumer. It's about becoming an individual who thinks for themselves and buys popcorn from the local drive-in.