The news keeps mentioning the same two or three little “family owned” businesses that got hurt in outbreaks of panic but can’t seem to come up with any more than that.
That’s because downtown is dominated by places Starbuck’s, Rite-Aid, Target, Apple, Microsoft, Nordstrom Rack, Whole Foods, Men’s Warehouse, Payless, AT&T, Sprint, Doc Marten’s and other big chain brands.
Brands which themselves cost hundreds of people their livelihoods or homes when they came here, which people were already angry about before any of this happened.
Oops, I forgot the scientology building got vandalized too. Poor babies.
And STILL, the most that’s happened to the majority is a little graffiti.
Vandalism of business was already commonplace in a city where so much business was lost to gentrification, and the relationship between several major companies and its citizens already strained for very good reason. In fact, this isn’t even a downtown location, but a beloved bowling alley people were hoping to see reopen a couple years ago:
And here it is now:
Damage to inanimate things such as property is an inevitability when large numbers of people are angry together. It’s also undeniable that American law enforcement violates people’s rights every single day, people have protested that for generations without seeing it get better, and outrage over that is justifiable no matter whose bricks or plaster or linoleum gets caught in the crossfire. All media attention to “damaged businesses” is a distraction from what actually matters, on top of being ridiculously overblown.
When writing always remember… a character flaw is only a flaw until becomes useful.
Is your protagonist manipulative? Well that’s awful… until they manipulate the antagonist into making a decision that saves the lives of their friends.
Is your protagonist a skeptic? Well that’s not good… until someone tries to lie to them.
Is your protagonist overprotective? That sucks… until someone they love is in danger.
Is your protagonist remorseless? Well that makes them pretty unlikeable… until a hard decision has to be made.
we’re about to witness an actively malevolent adam sandler movie. One where he’s actively trying to make a bad movie, allegedly opposed to his other bad movies… this is gonna be hell. all hands on deck brace for impact.