SHOP TIL YOU DROP

 Yesterday’s newspaper informed me that my neighborhood shopping center had been sold—-one more time.  However, this sale was to a developer who plans to replace the shops with houses and office buildings.  I don’t know why he couldn’t just fill it with sand and call it a desert, but developers don’t do that. Someone said, “The fountain in the middle of a dead mall still has coins in it, because people are wishing for the 90’s back."

Shopping used to be fun especially at Holiday Time. A person could window shop and see beautiful items that tugged at the heartstrings and the wallet.  Nowadays, some people enjoy shopping at Amazon.  Sitting alone in a room, staring at a computer doesn’t sound like a great adventure to me—whereas, there’s nothing like taking a two-year-old to a mall, dropping his hand while reaching for your credit card and a then finding him all gone! 

Now that’s an adventure!   It was a heart stopping experience I will never forget—the disappearance of my son, Josh.  I finally stopped yelling his name when I heard music playing nearby.  Sure enough, I found the little fellow dancing in the shoe department.  He had gathered enough of an audience that I could have sold tickets and purchased a pair of Christian Louboutins. However, the first thing I bought was a toddler harness with a long leash.  I could hang on and he could still hide in a coat rack.

Oh, the adventures at the mall.  On a cold winter day, I enjoyed watching the groups of senior mall walkers, who would burn calories walking around the mall and then get them back with breakfast at the Food Court, but fun was had by all.  I miss going to the mall with a friend, having lunch and then going to a block-buster new movie.

I will miss chatting with my favorite  sales associate who liked her job and  would help me with the merchandise. Little did I know that unhappy sales associates who hid from customers was the first indication of the demise of department stores. 

When my son was a pre-teen. he learned responsibility when I took him the the mall and we planned to meet at a specific time and place.  He liked his independence and was always on time, and I knew I could trust him. Years later, it prepared me to teach him to drive our stick-shift car, but it took a long time for me to allow him to get out of first gear. But I digress…

Losing my mall seems so discouraging, but this morning when I turned on the national news. I heard a story that there is a “mall recurrence”  on the East Coast, because people miss what malls have to offer, but the stores will update what they have done before.  I guess I’m not the only person who wants to touch the fabric of a garment rather than the screen on my computer.  Maybe there can be a compromise.

Of course malls will change with the times, but maybe there’s hope left for those of us who still like human interaction.  I fondly remember the little kiosk in the mall where a teen was selling earrings.  I asked her,”Do you have any clip earrings?” She replied, “No, but I can pierce your ears.” I thanked her, and said, “Sorry, but I need at least three opinions before having surgery.”  Where else but a shopping mall can you have an operation with your purchase?”

Esther Blumenfeld