Bookstore Solaces

Three days have elapsed since the closure of the Barnes & Noble® store in Kahala Mall. I had already tapered my visits there a week prior. However, I am now at a loss. A belated bereavement, as it were. I loitered in the central part of the mall for the longest time this evening. There's really nothing to do in a shopping mall except eat junk food or shop for useless crap, both of which are expensive.

The bookstore was a place of refuge, somewhere to go and browse books, with the option to purchase a snack in the café. There were chairs located throughout the store for patrons to sit. So, many of us spent the time perusing books and magazines. I often composed the "blog" while connected to the free wireless hotspot.

Goodbye, Old Friend

I have been frequenting the Kahala store ever since I moved back from the mainland many moons ago. The old journal, no doubt, had many entries which detailed that fact. Even when I moved to Waikiki, I made the jaunt to the larger store that is still open in Ala Moana Center. Alas, the latter store was much busier and obviously more crowded. Yet it was still a "hangout" place.

There's no place to "hangout" anymore. The bus trip to Ala Moana from Slob Manor (read: rental housing) is not feasible for the time that I have alloted for my evening outings. It would be much easier to travel to and from the "crack house" in Chinatown. The question is: Is the bookstore an important enough consideration to force my move to the district with the highest crime rate in Honolulu?