Standardization in retail and restaurants

I probably don't have to tell you that you can go practically anywhere in America and find many of the same stores and restaurants. This stinks. Of course, this phenomenon is the result of massive scale. By tuning our tastes to narrower and narrower possibilities these giants have removed much culture, surprise and fun and generally made life worse for Americans-not to mention fed us pure trash. Sadly some people prefer it this way. Ever notice how people rarely gather at chain restaurants? (with the possible exception of bored-out-of-their-mind teenagers) Real neighborhood establishments attract locals and become a place for them to hold court. This is an important part of their character. My brother travels for work much of the year and has a policy of only eating at mom-and-pop establishments. Fortunately he can still do this without starving. If more of us did, I think we could reverse this awful trend.