XPost: alt.magick, rec.arts.sf.written, alt.religion.druid   
   XPost: alt.magic.secrets   
   From: throopw@sheol.org   
      
   ::: Viable Mom and Pop shops for staple items.  There mostly shouldn't   
   ::: be any in stories of the future.   
      
   :: At the moment, around these parts, their number is increasing.  Sure   
   :: enough, they're called convenience stores and they are usually part   
   :: of some franchise operation, but they're mom-and-pop just the same.   
      
   : At least around here, 'mom-and-pop' is a designation usually reserved   
   : to businesses locally owned and controlled, with business decisions   
   : made locally across the kitchen table rather than being sonstrained by   
   : decisions made across a boardroom table elsewhere.   
      
   AIUI, some franchises leave most decisions local.   
   But even granting that, I still see non-franchized convenience stores   
   associated with off-brand gas stations fairly often.  Not as often as   
   franchised operations, but still some.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)