Bruce:

Thanks so much for all those memories -- horrific and happy!  Department
stores were THE place for certain rites of passage, both in big cities and
small towns.

I wonder where people will have these cultural experiences in the age of
buying online?  What will it mean for us culturally to lose the ability to
jostle one another over the sales counters of these institutions, to take our
children to buy their first pair of shoes or Bar Mitzvah suit -- will these
social rituals be replaced with the like of Amazon.com?  Is that good?  Bad?

MDK