Seating for two
London, ON, October 2008
The modern suburb has more than its fair share of places that are easily forgotten. They're often found in and around the mindlessly designed and built strip malls that generically and ubiquitously dot the landscape and keep us from telling one town from another.
As an example, I present this spot. It's located right beside a Tim Hortons* built smack in the middle of the parking lot of the nearby local strip mall. The dumpster is located just outside the drive-through lane - another aesthetic wonder - and employees making garbage runs often hang out here for a breaktime smoke before heading back inside. Some enterprising soul left a couple of milk crates here, ostensibly to add comfort in a place that probably sucks it into oblivion.
It's been five months since I shot this, and the crates are still there. I guess even forgettable venues have their own sense of timelessness.
Your turn: Tell us about an otherwise forgettable scene near you (and if you want to discuss the irony of remembering something forgettable, have at it, too.) And when you're done, please click on Thematic Photographic - drab to share some more.
* Tim Hortons (wiki) is a national chain of coffee shops. The brand has become something of a Canadian icon, and its coffee is, to many, quite the addictive vice. Whatever gets people through the winter...
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11 comments:
It is these mundane places of comfort that make work bearable for maqny of us, I think.
Aloha-
In New York City crates left out would be immediately stolen by young apartment dwellers, using them for furniture.
No doubt many have heard about Sacramento's "tent city" since the Oprah has made it the spectacle that it is. It is nothing new - it has been around for a long time although it will move from time to time. Good intentions and moments of compassion seem to make little difference as the media attention will fade and nothing will change.
sad
Tanya sent me,
Mike
I missed visiting Tim Horton's while I was in Victoria - too much else to do :-)
We had sacks of salt behind our gatehouse at work for months - and then we ran out in the recent icy snap! In fact the whole country ran low on gritting salt..
Tanya sent me here today to say 'Happy Bleeding!' :-)
But why do you go every week - surely they don't take a pint of your blood every week?
cq
here's my first Thematic Photographic, Carmi. Saw reference to your theme over at Mojo's. Here's the link: Electrical Works :)
Tim Hortons, a Canadian Icon.
A Canadian icon in as much as it had been sold to an American corporation who then re-sold it to an American investment firm.
Tim Hortons , who used to make fresh doughnuts , Who now make them in central commissaries and flash-freeze them to ship to the stores.
Tim Hortons who fired an emloyee for giving a timbit to a baby.
Tim Hortons, whose products are mediocre at best, but have the corporate dollars to purchase the prime real estate locations to freeze out the competition.
Tim Hortons, who pay minimum wage, stating that the consumer would not pay more to justify a wage hike, but have no qualms about raising prices when operating costs rise.
Tim Hortons, whose disposed coffee cups and lids are a pox on the landscape, littering the country with impunity.
make better cheaper coffee at home, and use a travel mug.
Juan Valdez
Tony the Tiger recommends milk cartons for furniture.
" Theeeyrree Crate! "
General Mills
Thanks for stopping by my blog Carmi, long time no e-see! I'm afraid I don't get around to as many blogs as I used to just lately. Great picture on this post (& all the others) as always.
Living where I do in the mountains, I don't see forgettable scenes often. (which is lucky for me I believe)
Carmi, come over and visit my Thematic Photograph for "drab!" It's at my "Mary Tomaselli's Photos" blog
Did Gord Harrison stop by and forget to log into Blogger? Because those two "Anonymous" comments sound just like something he'd say.
Having swum the murky waters of fast food in my youth I can tell you that in the wake of a lunch crush, by mid afternoon those crates look downright cushy.
For version 4, I went with a "Natural Drab", which may or may not be a permanent condition. Possibly then spring has finally and truly sprung, this landscape will transform.
Then again, maybe not.
Thematic Photographic 42: "Drab" v.4.0
Hey Carmi! In the "old days" those crates wouldn't last one day if left outside. The producers have shrunken them by a fraction of an inch on the sides, making them less appealing to those that still collect LPs...they used to be the perfect size.
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