After 81 years, the closing of the Chicagoland amusement park is a heartbreaker for Salvatore Balsamo who came to the park's auction with his grown son and daughter hoping for some small souvenir.

"It's crying outside," Balsamo told the Chicago Tribune while standing in the rain. "The question is where are the young families going to take their kids now?"

Although some dismissed Kiddieland as a traveling carnival that refused to pull up stakes, many worshipped at its cotton candy concessions. Imagine their horror when reading in the same Trib story: "Costco is interested in building a store at the site at First and North Avenues in Melrose Park. The park's operators had been ordered to vacate the property by the end of the year."

Costco? A bag-your-own-bulk big-box has come to swallow up our childhood? Where is the outrage? Wal-Mart can't even think about putting up a store without full-blown community outrage. But Costco can burn down our Disneyworld and what…? Nobody even flinches? Nobody asks for a memorial plaque? They can't even throw us a bone? Maybe leave the Tilt-A-Whirl in the parking lot?

OK -- it's a bit more complex. In-fighting between Kiddieland owners certainly played a role in its demise. So did the economy. Listen, we all understand the need for gas and toilet paper and crab cakes and tires. But do we really need to get them all at the same place?

When a historic landmark with a rich legacy leaves us, the victims are many: the children, the parents, the grandparents, the pedophiles, the carnies.

But then… sometimes, out of the darkness, a ray of light shines through when it seems all hope is lost: Costco will be hiring!

Bob Bounce is the pen name of a Northwestern University student slowly working on his masters. He is married to Sue Donym and together they raise two Chia Pets whom they plan to let slowly die from neglect.