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 author points to the drastic decrease in the shoppers in Central Plaza and has attributed the same to the popularity of skateboarding among users in the Plaza. While the author has taken in to consideration only the increase in skateboarding as the factor detrimental to business of shoppers in the plaza, there could be other myriad reasons due which the number of shoppers has decreased. The number can decrease due to the change in the demand of the people and the Shoppers’s incapability in meeting the demand. For example, the demand might have changed due to change in trend due to exposure to some Movie or consummate fashion change and since, youth follows the trend,their demands have changed. The shoppers might not have been able to cater to these changing demands leading to decrease in number of shoppers. The opening of a new Plaza or a new market providing better services and better price can also be another reason for the decrease in number, not considered by the author. People are bound to be lured by offers, sales, better prices, better quality etc. and if the shops in the plaza default on these factors they are bound to lose customers. If this be the case then the skateboarding is attracting the people to Plaza, who would have not been visited Plaza otherwise.

The author also evinces that the littering and vandalism has increased and though, does not states directly, but insinuates the same to be the result of increased skateboarding. The littering might have increased due to the negligence of the authorities responsible for the sanity of the Plaza. A clear causal relationship between the increase in littering and skateboarding on the basis of stated facts is a lacuna in the argument of author. The author has not substantiated enough to attribute the increased vandalism to the skateboarders. The same can be, as a result of the decreased customers, amongst the shopkeepers only. Also, it might have been because of the hostility of the shopkeepers towards the skateboarding organisers. When the shopkeepers are losing customers to skateboarding, a malign competitive attitude might have led to vandalism throughout the Plaza. Also, the author has not stated whether the increase in vandalism or littering has been gradual throughout the two years or it has been during the period the observations were made. These activities might have been a onetime event due to some other factors, of which we are not aware of, as of now.

If the case is influenced by any one of the factors discussed above, the removal of skateboarding from Plaza might not at all boost the number of customers of shops in Plaza. The shopkeepers should focus on other factors and try to improve their sales. If without analyzing the situation from a different perspective the decisions are made , then the Plaza is vulnerable to lose the customers it has because of the skateboarders.