The dumb desire to homogenize.

Downtown Nashville will soon become home to one of Jimmy Buffet's kitsch, but well liked Margaritaville cafes. Given the touristy vibe of lower Broadway this is a good thing. The werewolf has no problem with national restaurants chains. They succeed because they represent a consistency, familiarity, and comfort for segments of dining-out 

Nashville's daily newspaper, The Tennessean, has outdone itself in the department of stupid recommendations. Their website features a list of brain numbing chains that some twat thinks Nashville is missing. While there are a few chains that may merit consideration, the werewolf is flummoxed by the need for people to seek validations through homogenization. One of Nashville's most alluring features was how it had successfully resisted the homogenization that frequently possess other cities. Nashville is home to several decent local burger joints, Mexican restaurants, cafes, BBQ pits,  ice cream parlors, and bakeries, some of which the werewolf imagined had decent expansion and franchising potential themselves.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to diversify a local culinary scene with new editions, and having some of those new editions be chains. However, to think that the addition of the aforementioned chains is somehow validating and a source of credibility, well that is just tragically vanilla-esque and boring. Over-reliance of homogenization runs the risk of dampening the very features that make a city like Nashville such a gem. I guess it begs the question, is homogenization a sign of success and prominence? If so, where is the optimal balance achieved?