(And all the time, but it’s more important at Christmas when the malls are crowded)
Walk on the right, pass on the left.
There are other people in the mall. I know this is a BIG surprise, but when you come to a sudden stop or suddenly veer off, there are other people around you who you probably just cut off.
Cell phones and blackberries are a fact of life; take it off to the side, though. Wandering slowly down the middle of the concourse is not cool; neither is stopping dead in the middle of the walkway to take a call or text.
The mall at Christmas is not the time for your toddler to practice her walking.
Hey, it’s great that you just met some old chums that you haven’t seen in ages! Take it off to the side, though - you’re blocking the entire walkway.
Entering the flow of walkers is like merging onto a highway - you have to look where you’re going and you don’t have right-of-way to just barge in.
Consider leaving the baby SUV at home - the malls are crowded this time of year, and a 10 pound baby really shouldn’t take up as much space as a Smart car.
When you go shopping with a whole gang of you (plus small, short-legged slow ones), consider NOT walking six abreast, slowly, and blocking the entire walkway.
There - got that off my chest again for another year.
Same thing applies at Publix…does it take a union meeting of 3 or 4 people to decide whether a quart of milk or maybe we better get a half gallon??? And Lord help us if they have to choose between skim and 1%!!!
If someone’s going to the mall for walking exercise, frankly, they have nothing to complain out; they’re going faster than the people who are at the mall for its intended purpose.
Back when I actually went to malls, I used to hate mallwalkers. They seemed to think that they had the right of way, and priority over people who were actually shopping.
I can appreciate the appeal of mallwalking, however, unless the walkers are also shopping, they are using the mall without paying for it.
Keep ranting. I used to do an annual rant about Mon-Sun calendars, and Lo and Behold! Suddenly this year, proper Sun-Sat calendars are readily available here for 2012. I feel it simply cannot be coincidence.
We were in Market Mall (Calgary) this afternoon and ran in to the people described in each one of your points. I think everyone went to the mall because of the hurricane winds outside.
I was onboard with quite a few of the OP’s complaints, but if people are getting in her way because she’s power-walking though an indoor mall, then she’s got nothing to bitch about. I don’t like malls much, and as a result i don’t go to them very much either. But i recognize that their prime purpose is as a place for shopping, and i wouldn’t expect shoppers to make way for me just because i can’t be bothered joining a gym.
Thank you for the effort, but I fear this is a lost cause. People will spread out to fill all the available space, leaving no room for anyone to get around them.
Don’t go to fucking malls. Or, go to North Hill mall. It’s kind of run down and not very popular but it has what you need and not the throngs. I love living in the kind of seedy but really close to the fancy neighbourhoods.
I guess that’s the part that throws me. If you actually enjoy just wondering around stores looking at stuff, than I guess choosing to shop somewhere where that step is dragged out into the most time-consumer ordeal possible makes sense.
For me though, I think I could simulate the basic mall experience (the waste of time and money, combined with the general displeasure) by taking ten minutes to buy what I want somewhere else, paying three times the price, then spending the next hour and a half driving toothpicks under my nails.
And that’s during the rest of the year. I don’t even want to think about what it’s like there now. In fact, my head is now full of James Rolfian things I’d rather do than go to the mall now. But they’re probably best kept to myself.
Umm hmm. Because you are too cheap to join a gym, you are shamelessly co-opting a social environment designed for ambling, window-shopping, enjoying time with family and friends and actually spending money at the facility. And you are giving orders about the proper use of the mall?
No, as someone who plans to do some shopping later this week and using the mall for its intended purpose, I think I’ll give the orders here. Don’t mow customers down or huff and puff at strollers and the elderly plodding along with canes or walkers. The disapproving looks? Cut that out, too, the holiday season is afoot and your sour puss ruins the mood. And back off, freeloader, those velcro fasteners scratch hell out of our ankles. And get those knees high, so’s I can make fun of ya. Hulu/SNL link to Kaitlyn and Rick at the mall “I’m in an old person parade!!!” at 1:50
No, wait…Americans need more exercise, and if mall management and security isn’t complaining, have at it. I don’t want you to fall in inclement weather. But at least be decent and accomodating to actual shoppers, geez…
