When's the last time you found yourself in the kaleidoscopic maze that is the Minneapolis Skyway...did you ever stop to consider its enigmatic charm?
What? You've never been there? Me neither. But it's apparently pretty cool.
But who cares?
We should.
The glass-encased walkways, suspended like a sky-dancer's dream, interweave the concrete behemoths of downtown Minneapolis in an elaborate web, creating a metropolis within a metropolis. And then you add the food joints that (I'm told) seem to pop up, and disappear with the consistency of a magician's rabbit trick.
No judgement here, just acknowledging our faux shared experience navigating this glassed-in gerbil tube, while noting that even the best eateries seem to vanish into thin air...and not just there.
Which leads me to this week's sorrowful tale: Another beloved landmark eatery bites the dust.
Taco John's at the Skyway Has Gone Full Shutter
It seems the Minneapolis Skyway has lost another 'gem' in its star-studded culinary crown. Taco John's, that fast food oasis of 'Mexican' cuisine, has closed its doors. Oh, the humanity. Where will the masses go now to sate their craving for some version of Mexican-ish fare on a Tuesday?
The reasons behind this tragic development? They remain as elusive as the precise ingredients in their 'secret sauce'. Though one might speculate that it's a casualty of our post-'pandy' world.
Why Does This Matter?
We should take a moment to reflect on what the closure of Taco John's really signifies. No, it's not about losing a place to consume some 'almost' Mexican food. It's about more than that. This closure is the bell tolling for small businesses everywhere that are still grappling with the chaotic funhouse of economic cartwheels that's been our reality for four long years.
It's the bittersweet reminder that while we're scrambling to get back to some semblance of normalcy, the small-time players in our economy are teetering on the edge, one rent payment away from joining Taco John's in the annals of the pandemic's victims.
So, don't mourn for the lost tacos; mourn for the little guys who are still fighting to stay afloat in this wild sea of uncertainty.
And for some it's not just 'uncertainty', it's people's dreams and lives being destroyed.
Maybe someone you (or I) know will be next...
