Whinging over Trader Joe's, Praising Bad Beer

Over at Eat Salem, Salem Man has us scratching our heads. He writes about a beer so dull it couldn't even measure up to PBR and yet says that "it will be very popular in Salem."

Talk about damning with faint praise!

Is this the perfect metaphor for "So-Lame" or what?

In an earlier post Salem Man suggested that Salem's demographics should not be a barrier to Trader Joe's, and wondered why Corvallis might get one before Salem.

But no one offered any demographic arguments. How does Salem-area poverty stand up to Corvallis poverty? On the flip side, what's the density of higher-incomes in Salem and Corvallis? We know OSU is bigger than CCC and WU combined, so how does that affect the city...And so on...

If Salem partisans for a Trader Joe's can't assemble the data and argument for one, maybe that's why Trader Joe's doesn't come here?

In any event, it's interesting that so much energy should be devoted to an opportunity for shopping and buying. Consumption and the brands with which we associate ourselves, the way our shopping choices and displays act to define our identities, strikes us as a poor index of civic pride.

We like Clockworks and Gilgamesh Brewing and the DIY spirit they exemplify. It is about creating rather than consuming - with a frosty cold one when you're done! Isn't this creativity a far better index of civic pride and energy?

So stop whinging about Trader Joe's and continue the creative work instead! You know, instead of buying something, make it better!