Thursday, May 27, 2010

the crystal escalator

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

13 comments:

Jinksy said...

I think both sound and vision capture the essence of a nightmare shopping expedition!

NanU said...

it'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!

steven said...

hi jinksy - it's a relatively old piece - but it does have something of the essence i was looking for. steven

steven said...

absolutely 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

Dan Gurney said...

Provocative 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.

It's much more fun (not to mention ennobling) to be a producer, especially a producer of beauty and kindness, as you are, dear steven.

steven said...

hello dan! thanks for this thoughtful and thought-provoking comment. steven

Tess Kincaid said...

Gosh, I rarely go in a mall. But, boy, oh boy, when I do, the people watching is fabulous!

Elisabeth said...

A complete change of pace here. Steven.

Did that music get out of your head? It's stuck in mine now.

Valerianna said...

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?

I 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...

Reya Mellicker said...

I find shopping malls completely numbing, kind of like airplanes. Maybe worse. Can't imagine what it would be like to work in one.

Thanks for the music. It brought me back to life!

Linda Sue said...

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!

Meri said...

Too imaginative, I think, to reflect the mall experience.

Friko said...

perfect example of a soulless undertaking.
If malls make you feel like that, I suggest you avoid them if you can.