After 20 years in the news business, I’d like to think I’m a good judge of what’s going to make a good news story.
And before everyone squints in disbelief, when I say “good” story, I simply mean popular with our readers.
But every now and again, I find myself reaching for the reading glasses to double-take on the page view numbers for a certain story on our website, Richmond-News.com.
When the numbers come into focus, it’s usually followed by a “what the,” sometimes a “wow” and a shake of the head.
Case in point last week, when I heard that a local Ricky’s restaurant franchise, on No. 3 Road near the Yaohan Centre, was set to shut up shop after 32 years.
Initially, I thought I might put together a little piece quickly, just to record another small piece of old Richmond fading into the history books, as I know these types of stories to be quite popular with our readers. But, quite frankly, not this much.
The story went live 10 a.m. on Sunday and, by around 5 p.m., it had generated thousands of “original page views.”
It was clear by Sunday evening it was going to be one of, if not THE, most popular story of the week.
There’s obviously a fair bit reminiscing involved with these kinds of stories and the lamenting of the loss of another old-school diner in Richmond’s changing restaurant environment.
And there was the inevitable fury at another slice of the Western world being lost to the city’s prevalent Asian influences.
But even still, I’m often stunned how popular these stories are online.
As they say in my native Scotland, “There’s nowt as queer as folk.” Which roughly translates to “There’s nothing as strange as people.”
With all due respect to the outgoing owner of the diner in question, how good could it really have been to generate such an outpouring of emotion?
Was there something extra special about the all-day breakfast that was driving traffic to the Richmond News website and Facebook page?
Don’t get me wrong, I love the all-day breakfast at Ricky’s, but the loss of such wouldn’t keep me awake at night.
It clearly does for others, however, judging by the page views clocked up by recent stories about the departure of Bob’s Subs and Danny’s Screamers and the passing of one of Danny’s Wun Tun’s founders.
But rather than that particular Ricky’s franchise being anything out of the ordinary, I think the aforementioned adoration of the outlet is generated mainly by our tendency to peer at the past through rose-tinted spectacles.
Clinging onto the past, in my humble opinion, gives people an anchor of security, a foundation for which to fall back on, especially when all around you is changing far faster than you’re comfortable with.
But if you don’t take the spectacles off, at least now and again, that anchor may soon weigh too heavy and you’ll be forever stuck in the past.
*Editor's note: In the print version of this column published April 11, there was inaccurate information about Danny's Wun Tun restuarant closing. Danny's Wun Tun is very much open for business. We apologize for the confusion.
