Well, I just moved to MN about a week ago and though I am a nature lover, I figured I'd leave the goreous parks and head over to the Mall of America.
From the outside, it's just a gigantic warehouse looking thing. I was expecting a high rise I guess.
Inside, it's overwhelming. 4 Stories of stores. You just look up and up and up and up at the hallways and neon lights.
10 minutes into the expidition Baseball boy turns to me and says "I dont like this. Its just not right."
"What? What do you mean?" I ask.
"I look around and its like, consumer overload. I cant get away. I feel like I'm in a tunnel and its all man-made, heavily designed, manipulative methods used to sell to me and convince me to spend every dollar I have. It's just not right."
I agreed and clutched my purse tighter to my side. I was afraid. It was me against commercialism at it's best.
2 stores in, it got me. I had Baseball boy try on a brand of t-shirts he likes but we can only find at Macys in FL (here, the brand had it's own store), and as his pile grew to 3 shirts, I got into the spirit, and look- The brand carries a girls line! How cool! So I bought a shirt. $160 later we leave that store.
Then, its game on. I dont know. I must have blacked out. Those merchants know how to get my guard down. Pretty colors.
So over the next few hours we try on clothes, zig zag from one store to another. I found a HUGE scrapbooking store and gave Baseball boy $10 to get a smoothie just so I could be alone for a good hour in that store.
Then I bought 2 Old Navy tanks (like there isnt an Old Navy in every mall across the US)..so that was just silly.
I stopped in my tracks when I encountered the roller coasters. "Disney Land? Is that you?" No, its commercial America, Dora the explorer is here to greet you and take your money. Thank you very much.
I found it ironic that I suggested to Baseball boy we check out the aquarium. We come from Florida after all. He found it ironic that the aquarioum is on the second floor- thats alot of heavy water for one floor to hold!
Hmmm...what else did we get? Alot. I'm scared to look at my CC balance. It was bad. On the drive back home my senses cleared up, my mind woke up, because Baseball boy pressed his luck and suggested stopping at Target for butter and olive oil to which I angerly snapped "no! We're broke!"
But we need those two items. Baseball boy foolishly bought several Asian type of stirfry meals and only when he tried to cook them did he realize they required those key ingrediants.
Sigh. Target. We're coming back for you. Tomorrow. It NEVER ends.
Me against Mall of America...guess who won? Our economy will last another day.
June 15th, 2008 at 12:24 am
June 15th, 2008 at 02:41 am 1213494087
June 15th, 2008 at 03:43 am 1213497819
Amber, they are in a love relationship - she refers to her love interest as The Boy.
June 15th, 2008 at 06:51 am 1213509068
June 15th, 2008 at 03:23 pm 1213539838