England's changing...

Ok, so first up, the whole world's changing.  One man's instruction can lead to a city being destroyed, and there's a continuing alienation between the things we see happening around the world and our own lives - as if murder and war are something we should just accept as part of life.  It's something i'm constantly aware of, that i don't want to ever become numb to the things happening in the world.

But there are different levels of changes, and this recession is bringing one that makes me sad, even though i'm aware that to others, and in light of the issues of the world, it may seem completely trivial.  I saw Woolworths yesterday, closed.  Completely empty, abandoned, isolated, it was horrible.  I went in a couple of times once it was announced that it was closing, as i often did before, and watched it become more and more a shell, and there's something really sad about that.  The atmosphere was so low, defeated, deflated, it was even painful.  So many memories, so many jobs lost, there are so many shops and businesses that are part of our country's heritage, and they're vanishing.  

Woolworths, The Pier, Whittards, Adams, Zavvi, MFI, USC...they're all slowly dying, and i'm scared about how many more shops are going to join them.  Now, i know that they are chains themselves, but, as each of these shops close, i feel like supermarkets like Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys are becoming more and more dominant, and fear that they will slowly take over, to the point where in a few generations time, they'll be all that's left standing.  Even if that won't happen, i think especially in the light of the recession, they will gain more and more control of the market to the detriment of smaller and individual businesses.