At the Bookstore
The popularity of bookstores is slowly going into decline as the quality of books decreases along with the nearly extinct group of humans still intelligent enough to read books. In response, authors and bookstores are banding together not to bring about changes, but to cater to the abatement of intellect in the world. The most notable example of this is found in what is called the Adolescent Reading section. This is nothing more than the section where they can store all the books that essentially present nothing but a shallow, predictable plot which usually involves vampires of some kind (yes, they have them sorted into their own dichotomy now).
Next you have the Independent Reader section, where you'll find Reader Rabbit and all his diabolical cohorts setting out to make tomorrow's work force as brainless as possible. This is usually placed next to the Computers section, the hangout du jour of those detestable PC-using wannabes. On the other side of the shelf you have the language reference and test-prep books, which have escaped, for the most part, unscathed, apart from the constant dusting required in that area of the bookstore.
One thing that really disappoints me is the Literature section. Fortunately, they have kept all of the good classics. However, for some reason one can also find the schizophrenic, cockeyed writings of Jodi Picoult and others who write what is definitely not worthy of that coveted shelf space next to Dickens' Bleak House.
What bothers me the most is the ever-thinning line between Sci-Fi and Fantasy books. Whenever I want to find an Asimov or Wells novel, I must stand dangerously close to the Fantasy books with their embossed letters and gothic death angels. I feel like I should bring it to the attention of passersby that I'm looking at the intellectual writings of the Sci-Fi masters, and not an epic featuring some demon-possessed unicorn.
The bookstore is now held up by the presence of a coffee shop rather than its assortment of good literature. But of course, I'll still keep going to Borders and Waldenbooks; I'll just need to be careful to wipe my shoes on the way out.