(Originally Posted December 12, 2006)
I went to the mall yesterday to finish shopping for Kate. The mall and I have a love/hate relationship. See, I have fond memories of huge Ohio malls, with diverse stores and chock'd full o' Christmas spirit. There were sidewalk sales and well-developed food courts.
Not so in Indiana.
To preface this entire thing, I'm a fan of consumerism. Hell, we live in America: land of overspending, busting credit card limits, and holidays that are paid for 12 months after they've passed. Debt consolodation and counseling are undoubtably American inventions. While such things are unwise, I still find the "going beyond one's means to make the holidays special" attitude to be a bit endearing. I however, do not encourage it.
I also don't encourage the jackassery that I see at the malls during the holiday seasons. Instead of goodwill towards each other, I see people pushing, shoving, and doing anything possible to get the best deal. (Sure, we've all seen it on the news, in cheesy present day holiday movies, etc... but its really different when you see it live. You do a double-take when it happens, and ponder how Mrs.-Everyday-Housewife learned how to deliver such a vicious clothesline.) It would be nice to see a little more courtesy in public, especially in front of kids. Unfortunately, I tend to see that the over-the-top spending and the jackassery tend to go hand-in-hand.
Yesterday, (back to the subject at hand!), while shopping for my wife, a lady was pushing her kid through the mall in the stroller. The kid, (which was a little girl), looked pretty big for her age, and was probably capable of walking. I'm not sure if the stroller was to contain the girl or to help mom along in her breakneck shopping. (After all, it was the 11th. ONLY 14 SHOPPING DAYS WERE LEFT! OH MY GOD, EVERYONE PANIC!) The lady was in a very noticable hurry, and had a pretty big collection of bags from assorted stores in the mall. She was weaving in and out of people as she pushed her way through the mall. As fast as a walker as I am, she easily passed me up, and met a roadblock of sorts just ahead of me. There was a couple blocking her way, walking at a much slower pace.
Well, Lady + stroller demon couldn't get around these people, so impatiently, the lady closed right up behind them. She belted out an impatient "Excuse me!", (I wish I could put some extra emphasis on the attitude she displayed here, but I can't do so in writing. I'm also unable to convey that kind of attitude with my voice, because I'm not THAT big of an ass), but the couple kept at their slow pace.
Enter stroller hellspawn. The little girl SCREAMS out "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" in one of the most annoying tones you can imagine. Everything about it was ugly: The shrieking, the tone, the absorbtion of the mother's attitude. I realized that I'd have to put up with not one, but two, generations of this lady's impatient nature. The mother cut to the other side of the mall, down a ramp, and into The Gap, probably to buy her little "princess" some overpriced overalls and a bucket hat.
Meanwhile, the roadblock couple discussed the event. The woman said something to the effect of "What a cute little girl. Wasn't she cute?" (Obvious sarcasm.) The man replied: "I ain't saying she's cute. I don't mess with kids. I ain't no pedestrian."
Attention people of Lafayette: Pedestrians = ok. Pedophiles = not ok. I guess those people were slower in more ways than one.
I quickly passed them, my head shaking the entire way out of the mall.
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