Tuesday
Dec302008
civilized ku # 147 ~ back from the land of make-believe
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 08:58AM 
Hugo gets a haircut at Fun Kuts Kids ~ Merchantville, NJ • click to embiggenNew Jersey just might be the absolute best example of what is wrong with America.
And, IMO, first on the list of wrongness is the unchecked suburban sprawl that has consumed so much of the state's rural landscape. One need only traverse the state - north to south (or vice-versa) - on the rolling parking lot called the NJ Turnpike to see firsthand what the hand of unregulated growth and development has wrought.
If this is what people consider to be living the American Dream, they can count me out. Way out. In my case, 300 miles out.
Reader Comments (4)
That one guy staring at the camera really isn't too happy! His look is so intense, that is all what I am drawn to. It took me a few minutes to actually look away from his face to look at the rest of the photo!
he was probably wondering why Gravitas isn't getting his hair cut?
Mark, our trip to NJ was even less "productive" than yours. Most of the weather was pretty dreary and made me remember why, coupled w/ the Jersey sprawl, I was depressed much of the time during the 18 years I was last there. Our afternoon journey along Rt. 22 through Plainfield was yet another graphic reminder of why I'm so thankful to have escaped the land of my birth. Nonetheless, thanks to my brother and Victoria for hosting us for the first time in 15 years.
Mark,
This image keeps popping into my head ever since you posted it. I actually find it pretty disturbing and it's not because of the stink eye that the man on the right appears to be aiming at you. It's the damn TV's with Thomas the Tank Engine and how they are being used to pacify the kids while they get their hair cut. It feels like a palace of sensory overload with all the bright color and visual ( and probably aural?) stimuli. Just looking at this scene gives me the willies. Early indoctrination in all it's glory.