Not all who wander are lost. This guy maybe, but not me.
About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I was in the mall trying to sell some books that we were trying to get rid of at Half Price Book Store. I gave them two boxes, and they told me to give them a half hour and they would give me the price they would pay. So instead of sitting on my butt and doing nothing while I waited (my default mode), I decided to wander around the mall for a little bit. It wasn’t a big mall, but one that I hadn’t been for a while so I just wanted to see if anything had changed. Also, if there were any potential blog posts (apparently there was).
Instead of my default mode, I decided to wander the mall.
The CD/movie store was no longer there (shocker), the toy store had been replaced by a new toy store, and drug store was replaced by a new make up store. Something that you will almost always notice when you are away from a mall for a while is changes. It’s expensive to rent space at a mall and if you aren’t making sales, you are going to be replaced by something shiny and new soon. I’ve always been fascinated by malls, not because I like to shop or buy stuff, but because I love to wander around and notice things. I guess you could say I’m a people watcher. But not even that, I’m an observer.
Since I was on vacation, and it was the middle of the day on a weekday, I wondered what kind of people can even be at the mall at that time. There were of course, mothers with young children, and some teens who had just got out of school for the summer and were enjoying their freedom for the first few days, but what kind of adult males can be at the mall? Retired guys? Other guys like me on vacation? What about the guys at the center playing with the over sized chess pieces and chess board? Are they unemployed? Guys that work from home and are out needing to get the creative juices flowing? Workers from the restaurant just on a break? Or do they work the night shift and they are just picking up something before they go to work?
Observing people in their natural environment.
And the lady with the 5 kids under 8. Why would she come here? Was it just to get the little screamers out of the house, so she could get some sanity? So she could meet other women with that many kids? Did she go into this life wanting that many kids, or did she just kind of wing having that many kids? When was the last time she got any rest? I only have two and it was a good 10-12 year period before I got to sleep all the way through the night.
What about the lady that works at the book store? Why did she start working here? Was it her love of books? Did she just need a part time job because she needed money? Or is she an aspiring novelist that just wanted to have time to write her novel? Maybe none of those things. There are a thousand different reasons why she might work there. Or maybe none.
You might be one of those people that only go to the mall or a store to buy something. Many people are. My wife and son are. If there is nothing to buy, then they will find something. Otherwise, it was a wasted trip. On the other hand, I can go to the mall 7 or 8 times and never buy a thing. Someone may see me wandering around and think I’m lost. But they would be wrong. Not all who wander are lost. Some are just stalkers, uh I mean observing you getting lost.
ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH
Bitter Wandering Nomad Ben
Ben's Bitter Blog 
The mall makes me crave hot pretzels and giant chocolate-chip cookies; envious of the perfect bodies displayed by manikins; and jealous of those that can afford to shop at the high-end specialty shops. I always leave depressed.
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Yeah, I used to get those cookies that had frosting between two chocolate chip cookies. So goood. Now, not so much. Which is why I leave depressed.
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Willpower – be proud!
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Nah, I’d rather have the cookie.
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Heard about the lion tamer who got lost in a shopping centre?
He was badly malled.
I’ll get my coat …
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That was awesome. I can use that one at my next talent show opening.
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I worked in malls for years. They now give me the heebie-jeebies.
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I worked in a Target and a Little Caesers. They don’t give me the heebie jeebies. I guess I was able to block them out.
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You must be made of sterner stuff than I am.
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I mostly made of pizza and bitterness, so yeah I guess that is pretty stern stuff.
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I learned the art of mall wandering back when I was an 80’s mall rat, and we had nothing better to do than travel in packs from Spencer’s Gifts to B. Dalton Books to Hot Dog on a Stick for free lemonade samples. It was fun, except for when we had to run past the smokers’ stations. *cough cough*
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Yep that was quite the time for being a mall rat. I was an 80’s mall rat, always seeing if I could see my crush there or checking to see if my favorite music was on cassette.
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Oh, I hate the mall. However, my daughter wanted to buy my wife some bath bombs at some store at the Southcenter Mall. It was an amazing adventure of people watching and observing. I was in awe because I avoid going there. I’ve been truly missing out on all the weirdos (employees and shoppers). You have normal shoppers and then you then you have the weirdos. I might have to make this into a weekly habit…and then I won’t because I hate the mall.
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The Southcenter is quite a trip. If you can find a parking spot in less than 20 minutes, you are a champ. And just getting through all the levels, good luck with all that. I just find a spot and park there and observe.
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Time marches on and tramples what you thought was solid and forever. It all changes and yet there is a slight thread linking it all together. Superman was Samson, and Aquaman was frozen in Jelly. Jelly Stone Park has Yogi and so does the Yankees. It is all linked. Somewhere a long time ago there was a blogger in a cave, chiseling on the wall leaving his blog for the man who enters the cave thousands of years later. He reads the wall, and says to himself, the grammar is bad and the man has no imagination but with a little work it might be a good story. And so Indiana Jones is born.
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You weave quite a tale there, sir. It is definitely connected and it is up to us to find a way that it is all connected. Or something.
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iffit whir n-e-1 else, i’d say sumtheenk diffyrunt — but IT IS YOU, the bitter observer and you raise some good points, and some stuff which isn’t exactly pointy but has some sort of edge, knot sure weather scharp oar dullish, but some sort of edgy. good work! thanx 4 wreeporting !
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I am kind of a reporter. I make observations of all the bitter things and report them all to you. I even did 5 Bitter News from the Couches in video form, so you know I’m committed to reporting all the Bitter News.
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Yes, I have wondered the same thing at Walmart. Where do they come from and why are they not working in the middle of the week?
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I assume a few are guys on vacation, but I doesn’t explain everyone. But again, there is a story to everyone and that is what fascinates me.
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So how much did the offer for your books? They told me $8 for two huge boxes of really cool books, I couldn’t part with them for 8 bucks, so I wound up taking them all home.
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They gave me $30 one time and $11 another time. Mostly they were junky books and magazines.
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I usually stay away from malls as a rule. They were, however, my favorite place to go as a teen. We would always go up to the security and tell them that our friend was lost and we’d make up some name and then laugh hysterically when they announced it over the speaker. Good times! We also liked to eat all the samples.
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I used to go to the mall all the time, until I realized that I was doing all the walking and it was taking away from my lazy couch time. I finally wised up, but it is fun to see the train wrecks that people are when I am there.
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Yeah, you have to weigh all the entertainment value against all that walking you have to do!
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Especially when I can watch train wrecks on my TV or when my family walks by.
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The mall is a fabulous spot to do some people watching.
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You better believe that. So many interesting people, so little time.
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I’m the same way. I have no problem leaving a store without buying anything. Except I wonder if they suspect me of shoplifting. But the truth is, if it ain’t worth buying, it ain’t worth lifting.
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So true. I always seem a little nervous to leave a store because I have a sketchy face and a bitter look. I’m surprised security guards don’t head after me all the time.
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You have a bookstore and a toy store at your mall? That’s awesome! I have neither, but we do have a nice playland for little ones that I take my daughter to every now and again mainly so I can people watch.
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Yeah, and we even have a food court! The ONLY thing Playland was good for was people watching. All those kids, all the screaming. I still have flashbacks to the horrors.
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Our food court is down to 3 restaurants. I’m not sure if we can even call it a food court anymore.
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Sounds like your town needs a new mall for you to wander around in.
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Observing people and wondering what their lives are like IS fun!
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I know right? That is way more fun that buying stuff that you are just going to throw away soon right?
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