There are a lot of businesses around my residence that I've never patronized, and likely never will. Many of them have been around a long time,
becoming so much a part of my environment that I no longer see them as commercial entities. Contributing to this in some cases is never seeing
anyone go in or out their doors. A few are actually in this building--a hardware store, a plumbing company and a furniture and fabric store. I
remember going into the hardware store once, and it being very disheveled in appearance. When I asked for a copy of a key the proprietor belched,
"you got money?" It must be a real problem, people asking for keys to be made and then not being able to pay for them.

Across the street there's the law offices of something Lewis, which could certainly be abandoned, except that in this area it couldn't possibly stay
that way very long. I suppose law offices aren't much of a window shopping business, but this place's one window is always shuttered and protected
by big iron bars. Even lawyers need a little sunlight now and then, don't they? Maybe not.

On the few blocks of Amsterdam atween my parents' residences, there are a slew of restaurants that I almost never go to, some of them not so old and
not shabby at all. Somehow I just don't consider them, as if the momentum I have when leaving the building must propel me to Broadway or Columbus
before I can safely stop. The pizzeria right across the street has been an occasional exception.

I advertised to this after a Seinfeld episode in which Jerry George are riding on a bus, and the background shots being shown in the windows were
of the aforementioned stretch of Amsterdam. I saw several storefronts that are now long gone, such as "HATREXCO," what the hell was that place
anyway? Something to do with hats and kings, perhaps.