We Could Own This Town

Yesterday, the Regent Theatre held their annual 24 hour book sale. Most books were only fifty cents, with the "good", new books only $2.50. Considering the ease it would take to buy a brand new paperback for 29 dollars, this was a welcome change. I went first with one friend, then another because please... of course I would go twice. Kelley and I were pushed out of the book sale by crowds and overheating but went on to Starbucks. They had late hours, specially for the book sale, keeping them open until three in the morning. Normally all the coffee places close at about seven or eight. Isn't that ridiculous?

As we sat in the crowded Starbucks, we realized that they should always be open late, at least until midnight. The place was packed and the town is always busy that time of night anyhow. We sat around and watched the people sights: a guy blaring bagpipe music from his car's cd player, some stage-dressed actors who I assumed were entertaining the book crew, kids that look about 13 who are apparently allowed to roam the streets at night, some kids who kept going back and forth across the street in front of Starbucks (it's a cool new game - all the cool kids are doing it!), and the ever present dumb girls who wear high heels and strapless dresses in winter. Being able to sit in the coffee shop and watch all the people go by should be a part of nighttime Dunedin culture.

It's another reminder of how Kelley and I could take our good ol' American know-how and whip this town into an economic machine. It's a college town, meaning that any place that serves greasy food should be open until at least an hour past bar time. Coffee shops should be open really late so that high schoolers have something to do at night. Movies should play later as well. Breakfast places should be open early on Sundays. Then I realized that the American dream isn't overcoming obstacles, it's overtaking them. We could totally make this town suburbia, given the right amount of capital. But is that so good? New Zealanders wouldn't want to work all hours of the night catering to arrogant youth. Weird. It's like a whole section of American economy. Maybe we should just let Dunedin be its quirky self and wait for business opportunities to flourish back in the States.


Yeah, or we could take over and be business sensations...