some convenience stores just aren't convenient enough.

Sometimes when I'm running late in between classes I like to stop by a convenience store for a quick sammy or a croissant, or something to keep me rolling along(no pun intended) . I mean, hey, who doesn't?
"the convenience store" has been taken to a new octave here in Japan. They can be found in even the most corners and nooks of the countryside and cities. Just when you think you have evaded the vast populous and found yourself a quiet meadow from which to gaze at the calm country sky and ponder over the more delicate matters of the day...One should not be surprised that upon further inspection, you are actually just in the parking lot of another 7-11 (or Lawson, or Family Mart...they are all fully interchangable).

As if this omnipresence were not enough, I find that I have taken to only going to the most "convenient" of these convenience stores. I actually calculate the "convenience factor" before choosing to enter the parking lot. For example, there is a perfectly convenient 7-11 directly on my route between Imari (where I teach elementary school) and Karatsu (where I live). But I never go there, simply because I know that further up the road there is a Family mart which is EVEN MORE CONVENIENT!

"Yet, good sir, What is this "convenience" of which you prattle?" One might pose...well, the 7-11 is farther off the road. My guess is by a good 10 or 15 paces. That coupled with an entrance which does not face the road, has basically destroyed that particular market on my conveni-o-meter.

These are the sad but true facts of my interaction with the world of "convenience". But the question remains...how much more convenient could it get? Rest assured, the experts are working on it as we speak.