Everything You Need To Know About the Economy (From One Bronze Plaque)

Who knew that the entire economic history of America could be found on a single bronze plaque in downtown Monroe, a town about 90 minutes outside of New York City? Situated in the middle of this middle-class town, the plaque proudly proclaims the following:

"The 1800's saw this site occupied by a fulling mill. (I had to look that up, too. It's a mill where cloth was beaten and scoured. Fulling mills date back to the Middle Ages and mark the first "industrialization" of fabric manufacturing. But back to our plaque.)

"During the 1900's a blacksmith shop operated by Mr. Gimpsey was here. Circa 1925 a two-story wood frame soda fountain stood here. In 1929 'The Monroe Diner' was opened. It was operated by Ray Hunter. The diner was housed in a modern stainless steel railroad car style structure. In 1956 Sam Thompson expanded the diner and renamed it the 'Ballroom'. In the mid 1960's the restaurant was renamed 'The Goose Pond Inn'. It remained until its demolition in the spring of 1995."

The plaque then explains that over the years, these buildings damaged the nearby stream, causing flooding. So the mayor in the 1990s secured state, county and local support for "a total redevelopment of the site."

The plaque ends on what must have been a triumphant note: In 1995, "Fay's Drug was constructed."

Woo hoo.

To bring us up to date: By the year 2001, the local Fay's had become an Eckerd, which then became a Rite Aid, which then shuttered its doors and remained empty for about a year. Now, in 2010, it has been reborn as a Dollar General. So the whole story, it seems to me, is this:

Back in the 1800s, some very hardy types built a mill and started an industry. They made cloth. Probably employed several people.

Then, as fabric-making became more industrialized, probably rendering the fulling mill obsolete, some equally hardy types stepped in and started a blacksmith shop.

Next up? A soda shop, just like in "The Music Man." If you wanted a cherry cola, the soda jerk would make you one. It didn't come in a can.

You know what happened to hand-mixed cherry cola.

Next? More progress! Who needs a wooden soda shop when you can have a sleek stainless steel diner? Up one went, and someone even expanded on it, in 1956. Little did he know what was coming: McDonald's, KFC, T.G.I. Friday's — a nation of franchises that would offer cheaper, faster food. To fight back, some entrepreneur tried to make the place classy: "The Goose Pond Inn."

Didn't fly. The place was demolished.

Then the government stepped in to fix the infrastructure, and when its work was done, up went Fay's, a local drugstore chain, which eventually was sold to a big national chain, which eventually was sold to an even bigger chain. The store itself was a brown brick box of a building with all the charm of a prison.

Inside it had a pharmacy and aisles stocked with junk food and cheap stuff from China. It employed a couple of clerks and a pharmacist.

When it went out of business, in came Dollar General, which employs, as far as I can tell, a single clerk. It doesn't have a pharmacy. Nothing in the store is made locally. Most of it isn't even made in America. And the parking lot is almost always empty.

If you are wondering why the economy is so bad or where we're headed, I've got a plaque for you.

Lenore Skenazy is the author of "Who's the Blonde That Married What's-His-Name? The Ultimate Tip-of-the-Tongue Test of Everything You Know You Know — But Can't Remember Right Now" and "Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry)." To find out more about Lenore Skenazy (lskenazy@yahoo.com) and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM