while volunteering yesterday, i was reading essays by grade 4 and 5 students about their towns. They were supposed to write about why their community was special...what was alarming was that each entry (with some exceptions)had "my town is wonderful. it has walmart, pizza something, mcdonalds, etc etc". The consumer culture we live in permeates into the impressionable minds of these 10 year olds..its downright scary. its almost as if any childhood free of brandnames and restaurant chains where you get pizza is extinct. The ones who live in rural areas are perhaps the exception, but these giant corporations are creeping in there as well.