Are commercial “third places” a dying breed?

They are. I remember when Starbucks used to have chairs and even comfy couches in the 1990s. Now they are concrete brutalist nightmares that obviously want no one to spend time there. The entire design motif is based on getting you to flee as hastily as possible.

Malls now complain and kick you out if you “loiter,” especially if you are under 18 (though I have been kicked out of a mall for sitting down when I was well over 18 and had a valid movie ticket). I remember when the whole fucking point of malls was to loiter and hang out. What the hell are we even doing here?

And a lot of PMC libs still like to believe corporations love them. It is so absurd to behold. I also was going to go on another rant about how Haidt is right about his thesis and how the above is related, but I’ll save that for another post (also, anyone who thinks Haidt is wrong is an enormous dumbass, but that is obvious).