A Dunkin' Donuts is coming...and the sky is falling.

So a couple of weeks ago I’m reading a letter to the editor of our daily newspaper from a retiree in Wellfleet lamenting that a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise had snuck into town on the main drag, Route 6A. This, he tells us, is the beginning of the end for Wellfleet, a place formerly of great scenic beauty and historic charm. And, apparently, a place where you couldn’t get a decent cup of coffee! This guy must drink tea with the little finger elevated.

We have no WalMart on Cape Cod. Instead, we can buy every cheaply made product from China at the dozens of enormous Christmas Tree Shops, a “local” outfit! The smallest Home Depot in America is located in an old defunct store front in Hyannis. A larger store would have been the end of the Cape for sure. There is no Lowes.

The airport in Hyannis is expanding as are airports everywhere. If more people fly, airports will get bigger. This, too, is reported to be a sign that the end is near. The hospital in Hyannis uses valets to park patients cars because there is very limited parking on site. Parking garages would cause us to think we were in a “city” and who wants that. A developer proposed a five story Hilton hotel for the airport only to be turned down flat. Imagine, five whole stories! Meanwhile, dozens of homeless drunks wander the main street of Hyannis lured there by the enormous shelters set up for them.

I have lived on and off on the Cape for going on 50 years. Twenty years ago this stopped being anything other than a suburb of Boston with salt water. The busiest business here is the bus company, with dozens of buses taking Cape Codders to Boston every day for work. Get over yourselves.