Maggie's Farm

This is one of the things I miss most about living overseas in the "third" world. People ran tiny storefronts out of their houses. There was a tienda just across the way from our apartment where I could get all the immediate necessities: butter, eggs, yogurt, cilantro, fresh vegetables, and chicken. Two doors down from that: a lady selling fruit out of a shop the size of a closet. Couple houses away in each direction: a tiny hardware store, a stationery shop, an internet cafe, a bakery, and a lunch counter. Three supermarkets in less than a mile for the fancier stuff, plus a shifting array of vendor carts on nearby corners sharpening knives, frying churros, squeezing orange juice, and selling tamales, humitas, and brooms... all without ever making it feel like a commercial district. It was a real neighborhood. I mean, nobody would come from another district just to buy crema volteada at our bakery. They'd all got their own bakeries.

When we got back to the states, all of a sudden having to go shopping was such a drag. There's nowhere we can walk to: run out of eggs? Now we have to get everybody dressed, buckle everybody into the car, drive there and use a self-checkout where you don't even interact with another human being. It's so depressing.

The tienda lady knew where I lived, what I was looking for, and always asked after the baby. The fruit lady would advise me on the ripeness of platanos and avocados. The tamales were to die for.

All that's just missing here. Does it have to be?

Saying you enjoyed experiencing another country, culture, or way of life is not the same as trashing the US, you know.

The third world has issues. The US has different issues. It'd be very nice if some of the better aspects of each could be had in the same place.

The third world could use some good old US honesty, integrity, predictability, and trust. It sucks when you have to bribe government offices to get anything done, or when you can't grow your small business into a larger one, because the local cops are extorting you. That's normal in other parts of the world, and I won't sugarcoat it. I'll take our horrible slow surly DMV over their crooked government offices and negotiating "propinas" any day.

Meanwhile, the US could use some food culture, better zoning, and elimination of non-competence-based barriers to entry in starting businesses and entering professions.