Photo // Sunday June 08, 2008

I snapped this photo at a rest stop somewhere near the Indiana-Ohio border Friday evening on our journey to Cincinnati. I’m struggling to remember what practical purpose it served, (cookie jar? tea bag jar? just simply a knick knack?) but I do remember it was 60 bucks — which seemed a tad outrageous. However, this item speaks to a larger idea here and that is this: Midwestern rest stops in rural/small towns are patently ridiculous. They are the only places on earth where you can get camouflage hunting gear, jorts, porcelain dolls, a dreamcatcher, obscure country music cds and cassettes, PS2 video games, VHS tapes and ironic sunglasses all in one place under one roof. (This excludes flea markets.) What I’m wondering here is this: do people actually show up at these places not to buy gas, grab a Gatorade, use the washroom and buy a quick snack, but to do actual shopping for gifts and themselves? Is it because there are no malls in the traditional sense in these communities and the gas station becomes one by default? If the answer to these questions is yes, that makes me incredibly sad.

I snapped this photo at a rest stop somewhere near the Indiana-Ohio border Friday evening on our journey to Cincinnati. I’m struggling to remember what practical purpose it served, (cookie jar? tea bag jar? just simply a knick knack?) but I do remember it was 60 bucks — which seemed a tad outrageous.

However, this item speaks to a larger idea here and that is this: Midwestern rest stops in rural/small towns are patently ridiculous. They are the only places on earth where you can get camouflage hunting gear, jorts, porcelain dolls, a dreamcatcher, obscure country music cds and cassettes, PS2 video games, VHS tapes and ironic sunglasses all in one place under one roof. (This excludes flea markets.)

What I’m wondering here is this: do people actually show up at these places not to buy gas, grab a Gatorade, use the washroom and buy a quick snack, but to do actual shopping for gifts and themselves? Is it because there are no malls in the traditional sense in these communities and the gas station becomes one by default?

If the answer to these questions is yes, that makes me incredibly sad.

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