The Mall

When I was younger (like, pre-teen), I used to love to go to malls. You would go and walk around and act all cool. Of course, I lived in a town that had a TINY mall. It was also half-empty, and one end of the mall was a Menards. So, it was not exactly the height of cool.

But every so often, we would venture to Minneapolis to go to the BIG mall (Rosedale). It was the hight of coolness. There was a Spencer's Gifts (with "adult" gifts), and a lot of stores that looked really cool and grown up.

Now, I'm an adult, and I live in Minneapolis. I don't like malls all that much. I mean, if I'm going to walk around, I might as well be outside (at least in the summer). I don't have money to spend, and I don't really need anything, so I don't go. And over time, I've learned to not like malls. I've discovered they are big temples to worship the god of consumerism. You can't do anything there that doesn't cost money. Walking around is only fun if you are 15 or maybe 65 and trying to get a workout. I've also learned to not like major chain-retailers (except ones my loving Other Half works for). Malls are outside of my experience.

Until today...

I had to go to a mall to get a gift. This was a specific gift, so I figured that the mall would be the only place that would work.

Apparently, I was wrong.

I went back to Rosedale. It is definitely updated to match the new millennium, but it is not any place I want to hang out. Not only did I not find my gift, but I spent $2.50 on a pretzel. I would never had bought a pretzel in any other circumstance. But here I was, at the mall, not spending money. Maybe I felt bad for the mall, and that's why I spent the money on wasteful food.

I also think the mall is much smaller since I was there as a kid. Of course, it has been expanded, but it seems smaller now that I'm bigger.