i was in a mall recently -
the sort of place i rarely enter
i was drawn to the people
or what was left of them
sales clerks
playing roles
consumers
also playing a role
they all have to
otherwise
the whole thing
falls apart
there was very little left
when i got home
i had a piece of music
in my head
by yorkshire boy
here it is
I think both sound and vision capture the essence of a nightmare shopping expedition!
ReplyDeleteit's interesting that those mall people of whom so little is left are utterly unaware of their state. many would even clamor for more of the same!
ReplyDeletehi jinksy - it's a relatively old piece - but it does have something of the essence i was looking for. steven
ReplyDeleteabsolutely nanu!! in a small town like this, the mall is a major hangout for kids. i feel sad for the part of them they have to leave out of the equation of being there. i love the small shops. the ones with people in them. people with stories who want to know yours. steven
ReplyDeleteProvocative post, in a good way. I go to malls as infrequently as I can, less than once a year. It's amazing no one notices how depressed the consumers are. Maybe that's because being a "consumer" is so debilitating.
ReplyDeleteIt's much more fun (not to mention ennobling) to be a producer, especially a producer of beauty and kindness, as you are, dear steven.
hello dan! thanks for this thoughtful and thought-provoking comment. steven
ReplyDeleteGosh, I rarely go in a mall. But, boy, oh boy, when I do, the people watching is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteA complete change of pace here. Steven.
ReplyDeleteDid that music get out of your head? It's stuck in mine now.
I went to Wal-Mart the other day... because I could only really get the something I needed there. It just looked like everyone was searching... and, indeed, they were, but for what?
ReplyDeleteI wanted to stand at the check-out yelling-
"Don't buy that scare-crow for your garden... make one! You'll have fun!" I didn't do it, but left $10.00 later having to request NOT to have a big plastic bag for the easily carried items...
I find shopping malls completely numbing, kind of like airplanes. Maybe worse. Can't imagine what it would be like to work in one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the music. It brought me back to life!
If our mall was even remotely cool I might go there occasionally but our mall gets all of the rejected stuff from every other mall in the universe- all hazardous poorly constructed crap from china. Even the kids do not hang there anymore.The air is foul, the lighting harsh, the sales people disconnected- the perfume girls made up and spackled in what looks like morticians wax ...I can not breathe there, I don't know how the workers do it for minimum wage day after day. Makes no sense at all! One time I was in the mall and the only thing that caught my eye was a stick dragging from a kids trouser leg- a bit of nature, it was beautiful!
ReplyDeleteToo imaginative, I think, to reflect the mall experience.
ReplyDeleteperfect example of a soulless undertaking.
ReplyDeleteIf malls make you feel like that, I suggest you avoid them if you can.