Generica - Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, subdivisions. Used as in "We were so lost in Generica that I forgot what city we were in."
Generica is Wal-Mart. It's KFC, and McDonalds, and Wendy's. It's Olive Garden, and Shoney's, and Red Lobster. It's the Home Depot and Office Depot. It's every exit on every interstate highway, and every planned suburban subdivision:
- Or, as folk-songwriter Malvina Reynolds wrote:
- "Little boxes on the hillside,
- Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
- Little boxes on the hillside,
- Little boxes all the same.
- There's a green one, and a pink one,
- And a blue one, and a yellow one,
- And they're all made out of ticky-tacky,
- And they all look just the same."
Some folks were talking around the campfire one night, and one RVing couple was bragging how they planned their trip every day so as to be near a Shoney's at mealtime! Wouldn't want to take the chance of eating in a strange place now, would we! Now, I like the food at Shoney's, but every day?
Road food is part of any enjoyable two-lane road trip. Oh sure, you could drive the interstate highway, where every exit is the same; as if rubber-stamped there. You could gulp down fast food at one of the national food chains found at those highway ramps, and be back on the road in 28 minutes.
Or, you could take the slow road, and enjoy a home-cooked meal at a mom-and-pop diner. It's your choice!