The following appeared as a letter to the editor from a Central Plaza store owner."Over the past two years, the number of shoppers in Central Plaza has been steadily decreasing while the popularity of skateboarding has increased dramatically. Many Central

The recommendation of the store owner of Central Plaza that an increase in popularity of skateboarding had lead to a decrease in business and hence the sport be prohibited in the area seems completely baseless to me. The editor fails to give cogent reasons for his thought and relies on several unwarranted factors while making this recommendation to the editor.

First, the owner points out that there has been a “dramatic” increase in the popularity of skateboarding which has lead to the “steady” decrease in the number of shoppers. Here the owner gives is presenting two opposite ideas. Had the dramatic increase in popularity of skateboarding been the reason behind the decrease of shoppers, then drop would have been sudden and drastic. If the decrease had been steady, there might be other reasons like a new shopping mall catering to wider needs of the shoppers, decrease in quality of good being sold at Central plaza etc. Also, some of the owners are of the opinion that the decrease in business is due to the increase in the number of skateboarders. Also, shopping is not a full time activity and the skateboarders will still shop for their necessities. The owners assume that the skateboarders keep on playing the sport the whole day and hence the decrease in sales. So the thought that it is the increasing number of skateboarders which have caused a decrease in business is completely baseless.

Moreover, when the owner says that there is and dramatic increase in popularity in the skateboarding and steady decrease in shoppers, he does not provide for any statistics. If the number of skateboarders was 2 before and has increased to 50, this can also be considered as dramatic increase.

Also, the owners assume that these skateboarders used to from shop Central Plaza earlier. It might well be possible that these skateboarders might be new in the neighborhood and never shopped from Central plaza. Another point to that should be considered is the age group of the skateboarders and the shoppers. If majority of the shoppers in Central plaza were old people and the age group of the skateboarders is nowhere near to the one of the shoppers, it won’t affect the business in Central Plaza at all.

Furthermore, the writer also mentions that there has been a dramatic increase in the litter and vandalism in the complex and concludes that this is also due to the increase in number of the skateboarders. The author needs to substantiate this before making a conclusion of this kind. Was there no litter before the increase in popularity of skateboarders? The increase in litter has more to do with the maintenance and cleanliness maintained in the plaza. There could also be a case where the shopkeepers themselves or the shoppers must be leading to all the litter. Instead of arriving to the conclusion that the skateboarders are the reasons behind this, a proper maintenance schedule should be recommended and executed from time to time.

The owner also recommends that skateboarding be altogether be banned and predicts that this measure will lead to an increase in business in Central Plaza. But is the owner sure that all the skateboarders will shop from Central Plaza alone. Isn’t there any other shopping complex from where these skateboarders will shop? Even if that happens, is the author assured that a ban on skateboarding will not lead to the surge in popularity of other sport. If that happens, then the business might as well drop for the same reasons as the author has furnished in his argument.

To conclude, the owner needs to reassess his argument that the skateboarding should be prohibited in order to increase business in Central Plaza. The existing recommendations are made on the basis of a futile argument and will not prove fruitful.