The next invasion will be brighter
Correspondent Paul Thompson, a known character-on-the-square and observer of the wee hours, has pronounced the Starbucks sign at 2 a.m. the town's "loudest noise." The visual pollution is so great it crosses over to the other senses, he says.
Subway's colors are even brighter, and the thought of them hanging over the square may yet awaken Point people to the looming invasion.
Another character on the square, Rosamaria's Cafe owner Mike Nova, has already taken the threat seriously. At his computer, correspondent Nova did some reconnaissance on Google (a popular Web search engine) and turned up interesting info about the chain. He has put the printed pages on display in the cafe library (to the left of the order counter).
The prospective franchisee, said to be a Pakistani woman, is reported to have visited businesses around the square to test reactions. TOTP doesn't yet know what she heard.