So, I don’t know why I was thinking about this but while I was on the train on my way to work I suddenly thought about the “bodega” app that came out about 2 months ago. I know a lot of people were against it, and still are, and there were a handful of people for it. The first backlash I heard about it was from a podcast I listen to called “The Read” featuring Kid Fury and Crissle. After about a couple of days I started seeing post and videos on Facebook. Now from what I’ve read/ listened to/ and watched the people who are against it were discussing the culture behind an actual bodega and I completely understand, but I have my own reason for not supporting the app.

My main reason for being against the app (I hope it’s not making any business btw) is because, these bodegas are a source of income for the families running it. More than half of the time the people who are running the bodegas are parents and their children, with the occasional homeless cat that isn’t homeless because he kind of lives in the store. You take that away by creating a crappy app that delivers a box of generic items that you can simply go up the block for. 

Im going to go on a small rant. Once those bodegas stop getting frequent business, they cant make their rent and they eventually get evicted. Once they are evicted the space goes out for rent and some gentrified couple thinks that it will be a great place to open up a coffee shop because Starbucks is so mainstream, all they do is burn their coffee beans, and make sugary drinks. Once the gentrified couple gets approved for a loan and opens their coffee shop called “Beans”, the price of the neighborhood slowly goes up and the family that once owned the bodega cant afford rent and now gets kicked out. The gentrified couple finds it convenient that an apartment opened up close to their coffee shop and pays 2x what the previous family was paying in rent. They obviously cant afford the apartment on their own so they get some roommates and the gentrification process continues.

Now I dont know how we got to gentrification lol, but that is the scenario that plays out in mind with that bs of an app called Bodega.

I will try to make these blog post a weekly thing <3