Consumerist relationship: We’re closed
Social relationship: If my doors are locked, I’m probably taking a shit. Call me on my cell and I’ll cut my shit off and open up for you
My “bodega” owner does that for me
But if that is the standard, knowing the people working in your shops, rural America has it beat just because in a small enough town everyone knows everyone and uses the same shops. That only seems like a valuable social interaction when you are surrounded at all other times by people who you only ever either ignore or see purely as servants, something impossible in a place where you grew up around everybody. And people flee to NYC to escape exactly that. NYC is so cool precisely because you can go to different shops and shit as much as you like. And reach multiple different shops from your house. In fact that city is completely wasted on the people who think their bodega experience is worth bragging
