Reminds me of when my brother in law swore his buddy could do our roof for half price, ended up with a tarp on it for a year.

Used to roll my eyes at people who said they felt watched at self-checkout, figured it was all in their head. But then I noticed the screen at my store actually shows your own face back at you while you scan, like a little video of yourself the whole time, and once you see that you can't unsee it. That plus knowing they pulled workers off real lanes just to babysit the cameras tells me it's not paranoia at all. Sounds like Darnell gave you the real answer.

That number is wild but honestly it tracks with what I see. Every strip mall and side street around here is just wall to wall small shops and nobody ever talks about them. We hear about the big guys but the little ones are kinda everywhere once you start looking.