Kevin Wayne Williams wrote:

> marc wrote:
>
> >
> >  Apparently in-house
> > products now make up almost 50% of what 7-Eleven sells, so they have become
> > one of the largest (virtual) food/drink producers in Japan as well
>
> One of my language exchange pen-pals wrote something like "Finally! A
> 7-Eleven is being built in my town." I explained that the English she
> had chosen was grammatically correct, but conveyed the impression that a
> 7-Eleven was a very exciting thing, and something that she had been
> anxiously awaiting. I gave her several calmer examples.
>
> She wrote back a very nice note explaining that a 7-Eleven *was* a very
> exciting thing, and she *had* been anxiously awaiting its arrival.Until
> 7-Eleven came to town, she couldn't buy 7-Eleven brand products.

McDonald's and Starbucks are essentials for local Americans, who will travel 30
minutes by train from two cities away, for no other reason. Any place that
serves beer until past two or four a.m., including family restaurants, is also
an essential for most Westerners I have known locally. They will even sleep in
open fields and parking lots to be able to go there from out of town, then go to
work the next day in the same clothes.

> True Fact: in the American midwest, there used to be an 8-10 chain as well.
>
> KWW