# It's Time For My Annual Rant About Walking In Malls **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 27, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287 "2011-11-27T23:51:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/41 "2011-11-28T21:37:58Z")
Only one thing related to your list really gets my goat: the people that stop immediate at the top or bottom of escalators, stairways, and narrow store entrances. It’s one thing to stop when traffic can go around you (if inconveniently), but doing it where there’s no room to go around and _there may be a machine feeding people toward your stupid motionless ass_ makes me stabby. ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/42 "2011-11-28T23:03:26Z")
People don’t care. They don’t care when they’re at the mall, they don’t care when they’re in the car. They couldn’t care less when they live in apartments, and they don’t give a damn when they live in houses. They stand in front of doors everywhere, they blast stereos and scream at one another. They honk horns, they use leaf blowers at 6AM. IOW - people think they are the most important special snowflakes on the planet. At least 90% of them do. If they ever bothered to consider others around them, I think they’d short a fuse. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/43 "2011-11-29T01:12:31Z")
> [@Bloodless\_Turnip](#): > > People don’t care. > > They don’t care when they’re at the mall, they don’t care when they’re in the car. They couldn’t care less when they live in apartments, and they don’t give a damn when they live in houses. They stand in front of doors everywhere, they blast stereos and scream at one another. They honk horns, they use leaf blowers at 6AM. > > IOW - people think they are the most important special snowflakes on the planet. At least 90% of them do. If they ever bothered to consider others around them, I think they’d short a fuse. Actually, they do, but not about what you’d expect. I forget exactly where I saw it, but one of the newsmagazines demonstrated what researchers have learned about how people respond when they are in a parking space preparing to exit and they know someone else is waiting to take that spot: they tend to take _ **longer** _ when someone else is waiting. (There was some difference depending on the relative vaalue of the automobiles, but I forget which way it ran.) Who knows what perverse thought process or emotional process drives this behavior… but there it is. This is similar to the issues of traffic in a mall, and I’d venture a guess that same people who take extra long when another car is waiting are the same people who are happy to block everyone else trying to walk by in the mall. ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/44 "2011-11-29T02:41:53Z")
Kind of like the people who pace the car in the slow lane, while they drive in the fast lane. On a two lane highway. With a line of cars backed up for miles behind them. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/45 "2011-11-29T03:01:48Z")
They should have a Mall Walkers Anonymous. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/46 "2011-11-29T03:04:02Z")
I think that **Cat Whisperer** and **alice\_in\_wonderland** should not go shopping together. “Ooh, look at this!” “Keep moving, we’ve got to get to The Bay in 57 seconds!” ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/47 "2011-11-29T04:06:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 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. I used to live near a mall. It had a “Mallwalkers Club,” which invited people from the neighbourhood to walk all they liked around the mall–from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., when the mall opened for business. There was a coffee shop open, so folks could buy water or other refreshments. A lot of people took advantage of it, especially in the cold weather; and I even joined in a few times myself. It was nice! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/48 "2011-11-29T04:11:22Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I used to live near a mall. It had a “Mallwalkers Club,” which invited people from the neighbourhood to walk all they liked around the mall–from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., when the mall opened for business. One of the malls near me posts “Mallwalker Hours” that start about an hour before the businesses open. A different mall in a different place (years ago–can’t remember where) would provide you with a printout that showed the 1/8 mile, 1/4 mile, etc. increments. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/49 "2011-11-29T04:12:16Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > **kushiel** , they really aren’t great. We tried to buy a bow-tie from Sears for Halloween, and after getting a regular tie twice and the staff at Sears being completely un-interested in the problem, I’m losing my interest in shopping Sears online, too. Moore’s is the place to go for bow ties. Clip-ons and the real thing. I’m tempted to get a few of the real thing, just for a little variety in my wardrobe. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/50 "2011-11-29T04:15:05Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > One of the malls near me posts “Mallwalker Hours” that start about an hour before the businesses open. A different mall in a different place (years ago–can’t remember where) would provide you with a printout that showed the 1/8 mile, 1/4 mile, etc. increments. The mall I remember had the same thing–a loop from Sears to the Bay and back again was “so-far” (sorry, I cannot remember the distance). But people used it so they knew that they did their X miles (or fraction thereof) per day. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/51 "2011-11-29T04:24:54Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > 1. 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. Even better would be to consider leaving the baby at home. The world would be a much more pleasant place if people followed this rule at malls, restaurants, airplanes, grocery stores, workplaces, baseball games, basketball games, weddings, concerts, movies, doctors’ offices, auto repair shops, gyms, parties, soirees, galas, box socials, debutante balls, coronations, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/52 "2011-11-29T05:23:47Z")
> [@Bloodless\_Turnip](#): > > People don’t care. > \ I think you’re onto something there (or as **Stoid** points out, they care about _themselves_ - others don’t register). > [@Spoons](#): > > Moore’s is the place to go for bow ties. Clip-ons and the real thing. I’m tempted to get a few of the real thing, just for a little variety in my wardrobe. We actually tried Moore’s - no luck. Surprisingly enough, we were able to find a white bowtie at Le Chateau. > [@Ponch8](#): > > Even better would be to consider leaving the baby at home. The world would be a much more pleasant place if people followed this rule at malls, restaurants, airplanes, grocery stores, workplaces, baseball games, basketball games, weddings, concerts, movies, doctors’ offices, auto repair shops, gyms, parties, soirees, galas, box socials, debutante balls, coronations, etc. I’m down with that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/53 "2011-11-29T05:44:55Z")
i agree with the OP in everything. however, a mall is basically the only place where you don’t have to follow all 8 rules. and you can disobey them in airconditioned comfort. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/54 "2011-11-29T05:45:17Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I forget exactly where I saw it, but one of the newsmagazines demonstrated what researchers have learned about how people respond when they are in a parking space preparing to exit and they know someone else is waiting to take that spot: they tend to take _ **longer** _ when someone else is waiting. [Reactance theory](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactance_%28psychology%29) ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/55 "2011-11-29T12:42:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > 1. 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. Oh but this is the perfect time to play Mall Red Rover! You remember the song from childhood, right? “Rover Red Rover, let EvilTOJ barge right through the line and piss you all off but that’s OK because you were in the fucking way!” I think that’s how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/56 "2011-11-29T17:39:25Z")
There is a significant percentage of people out there who are entirely too self-involved to notice other people around them. Those people are what I like to refer to as “assholes.” Coming off as proud of the fact that you don’t care whether your actions negatively impact the people around you really isn’t an effective means of winning friends and influencing people, IMO. If everyone paid just a wee little attention to the things happening around them, rather than gazing deep into their own navels, and made even a half-hearted attempt to not be constantly obstructing others, the whole world would be a better place. A place where the power walkers, the browsers, the shiny object grabbers, the fat, the skinny, the old, and the young could live in harmony, simply by taking the half second needed to adjust your trajectory so as not to interfere with the rest of the world. Sadly, the assholes of the world are too stupid, stubborn, and/or actively antagonistic to the rest of society to ever make this happen. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/57 "2011-11-30T01:13:20Z")
> [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](#): > > There is a significant percentage of people out there who are entirely too self-involved to notice other people around them. Those people are what I like to refer to as “assholes.” … > > Sadly, the assholes of the world are too stupid, stubborn, and/or actively antagonistic to the rest of society to ever make this happen. I hope we are not supposed to take this to mean you believe that all, or even most, instances of inattention are perpetrated by stupid, stubborn assholes, because that’s just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/58 "2011-11-30T16:50:14Z")
I play a little game where I try to weave among the obstructions without breaking whatever pace I have set for myself. While doing this I visualize myself as water flowing down a stream and dealing with the rocks, twists, etc. The water doesn’t get upset and manages to go its own pace; so can I. After a while I start singing “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing.” Soon everyone begins to sing along grooving on the mellow vibes I sent out while I was weaving around. Before you know it the whole mall is part of the eternal oneness. Cool. Very cool. Other days I just shop on line so I don’t have to deal with the idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/59 "2011-11-30T17:01:24Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > The water doesn’t get upset and manages to go its own pace; so can I. People who step in water’s path get wet though. I suppose if you’re zen about mowing down obstructions this could work very well!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287/60 "2011-11-30T17:02:13Z")
I missed the edit window while I was adding the footnotes. My post (above) should have looked like this: I play a little game where I try to weave among the obstructions without breaking whatever pace I have set for myself.(1) While doing this I visualize myself as water flowing down a stream and dealing with the rocks, twists, etc. The water doesn’t get upset and manages to go its own pace; so can I.(2) After a while I start singing “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing.”(3) Soon everyone begins to sing along grooving on the mellow vibes I sent out while I was weaving around. Before you know it the whole mall is part of the eternal oneness.(4) Cool. Very cool.(5) Other days I just shop on line so I don’t have to deal with the idiots.(6) (1) The only true statement in my post (2) Woo factor starts here (3) Or “Kumbaya.” Apparently Coca-Cola commercials are not documentaries. (4) Woo factor maximizes about here (5) Because I’m part of the generation that said things like this and “groovy” (6) Another possibility [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-my-annual-rant-about-walking-in-malls/604287.md?page=4)