On a recent Starbucks run in Lexington MA, I parked near a line of newspaper boxes along Massachusetts Avenue, the main drag through this posh suburban town west of Boston, where property values are sky-high.
In Boston and in most of its surrounding communities, newspaper boxes have pretty much fallen into disrepair or been removed as eyesores because of the steep and continuing decline in sales of print-edition newspapers. And in fact, the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald are both long gone from this location.
What's selling here is Chinese newspapers. In my short time in the parking lot, three different elderly Asian men walked up to the boxes and purchased newspapers, reflecting the dramatic increase in young Asian homeowners in Lexington - two-income couples with high tech jobs, with kids - who have brought Mom and Dad over to live with them. And their newspapers keep them in touch with the world they've left behind.
Firefly had it right. We need to learn Chinese.
ReplyDeleteOf course there's optimists learn Russian. Pessimists learn Chinese.
Gonna have to be able to communicate with our landlords...
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