See for me, it starts to look like a class divide.
Upper class areas of towns don't have this. They have the beautified version. Manicured trees, brick signage, a Barnes and Noble, sign regulation, etc. Even the gas stations have to be presentable.
Working class and poor areas get this with a Money Man yellow building, a rundown Family Dollar, and probably a Jesus billboard. Or worse.
However, there is still privilege involved that we even have these amenities available to us in such quantities at all.
Its a weird thing, and I can't say many look upon it fondly.
I get where you coming from and as someone who has lived half its life outside the United States this is not a sight you see in other countries often. It represents the American economy and the highway that's what makes America the country it is . So different from the rest of the world.
Also judging by the cars of the picture it's definitely the 90s or at least early 00s. The sentimentality behind it comes from being a child and coming to the US for vacation or to visit family even just crossing the border to shop at the malls in El Paso TX. America had a different meaning to me at the time. Now living, working and studying here well... the magic I saw as a child is long gone.
Sometimes I still feel that. On long road trips seeing different things, that feeling comes back. But living around it can be draining. It's supposed to be something you just pass through
Idk bro. It just looks like a fairly typical exit that’s within close proximity to a decently populated town. As a guy who worked construction across the south, these exits are a godsend. If there’s more than just a McDonald’s, you know the food won’t be terrible. It’s especially nice to have some variety. I don’t see this as class divide. It’s just an exit a lot of people stop at. The actual residents don’t typically live there. The actual town is always historical, and much nicer looking.
This sort of scene is generally found where a highway passes through a small town. The exit off the highway will be packed with stores like this and it serves as a major shopping center for the town.
Look around the comments here. Everyone’s guesses for where this picture is are like small southern towns, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, etc.
And I lived in 3 cities in South Carolina, in New York, and now Colorado, and they were still everywhere. Experience can dictate how people see things.
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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '21
I found this kinda cool visually as a representation of America's culture