A friend of mine worked for the phone company back in the early 90’s and was sent over to Panama to support the military during the ousting of Noriega, and he has a lot of stories pertaining to his time there.
One such story is about going to a McDonald’s where he used an intercom to order his food which was delivered via a slot under bulletproof glass, and there were armed guards in the lobby. It always struck him as the penultimate example of what a place looks like when the government fails.
Today I walked the mile and a half over to the McDonald’s near my office building, where I ordered via touch screen and my food was delivered via a slot under bulletproof glass, and there was an armed guard in the lobby…
My company has owned this building for about 15 years now, so I remember when the area was really nice. The decay really began with the addition of the light-rail station just up the street in 2017, and has dramatically accelerated in the last few years… Now I have to walk around the building every morning to evict homeless folks camping in the doorways and clean up cardboard beds and stolen Amazon grocery delivery bags from the apartment complexes nearby.
Last year the building was broken into and ransacked, and that was also the beginning of cars getting broken into in the parking lot every now and then.
So, long story short; Aurora Colorado in 2024 has achieved Panama City in 1990.
Listening to "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" by Don Henley