Mallrats

am coming back to this thread because its christmas season and it was very busy. Everyone was just wearing masks...as we are not locked down anymore.

although I got told off for trying to do some shopping while I was working (what, I cant look at things in the shop I am working in?) so I decided if my boss was going to be like that I wouldnt buy ANYTHING from the shop I just spent working 4 hours in.


I dont know...arent you supposed to give your workers at least some perks while they are working for you on MINIMUM wage?

I went to malls a lot in my younger years like my teen years. As they had in abundance what I was looking for. They had girls.....LOL
Even went in my younger military days cause found that some gals liked a man in uniform.

I did find them fascinating, malls that is. Not for shopping but I have always liked to watch people when they don't think anyone is watching. So malls of course brought a good number of folks out into one place. So used to just like to sit and watch folks cause they have always fascinated me in their mannerisms and actions.

So I reckon mallrats would be a correct definition since I liked to watch folks in a experimental manner to solve my curiosity in real time, to just watch how varied and individual we all are. To which some folks really are just funny to watch when they think no one is watching......LOL

were you like a security guard or something?

now most shops and malls have CCTV. So everyone is being watched.

But my boss wasnt impressed with the mall security guards because they couldnt do much about people shoplifting.

I think malls are great. I’ve got a good handful of them near me and each has its own atmosphere. At the mall I usually go to, I always use the escalators as much as possible. At the soap store they have soap samples at a sink so I always wash my hands with all the soaps. Then I always check out the video game store and the pop culture store. My friends and I go to chickfila after wandering around a while. The best part though is you can do pretty much any absurd thing you want and watch people’s reactions. It’s great- half the people pretend you’re not there and the other half wish they had the courage to do what you’re doing.

Once I was walking with a group of friends and another group of people our age was walking towards us. One girl who I could tell was trying to appear cool by standing out and being gung ho and sporadic singled me out, came up to me, extended her arm, and said, “hey, dab me up” (which I think is some kind of complicated and absurd handshake). Well, I don’t “dab people up” and wouldn’t know how to anyway, so to cover myself I said with a completely straight face, “I’m sorry, I don’t know how to do that because I’m a social outcast”. Her face was priceless. I one-upped her at her own game and she quickly went back to her group with a confused look. My friends thought it was hilarious.

Plus, that mall sponsors free cover band concerts at the high school 4 nights a week all summer long, where I go to dance with the senior citizens. It’s great.

No maam, I was in the military. I went in after high school. In high school like minded guys like myself we would just two of us or a group of three or four of us. We would just cruise the mall looking to meet girls. So when I was in those younger days of my service, me and other guys would continue that same tradition we did in high school. Except sometimes we would go in uniform cause some gals were attracted to guys in uniform. We were just trying to give ourselves what we thought may be a edge....LOL

As far as watching folks. Back in those days I had grown up reading comic books. So would go to the mall cause the comic book shop was there, or may go to the place that sold the custom made knives, or the store that sold the prank stuff. Anyway after I bought whatever I would oft just sit down on one of the benches and just watch folks going about their lives. As I had found folks can just be entertaining to watch.

I'm pretty sure malls started in big cities as a means for department stores to share utilities and parking space... But, just like all good ideas, it became convenient and profitable. Then, of course, they evolved into the hulking monstrosities they are today all in the name of city revenue.

I agree, malls are ridiculous! Now, they're actually designed so the most popular shops have the least convenient parking, forcing you to walk a half mile passed other shops! I'd rather eat a bug than go to a mall!

They need to put Paul Blart - Mall Cop on their security detail.

Bro ya got me all jealous cause I missed that obvious of a reply...........LOL Brilliance my friend

There was one mall that opened a few years ago that was so big Im sure it took 2 hours to walk from one side to the other and had so many carparks that you needed a map so you didnt get lost.

and now I observe creepy men in military uniform were using malls to perv at girls....? okaaay
I would have been oblvious to them anyway I would have been trying to find my way back to the car.

I remmeber feeling very claustrophobic in some overseas malls as they had ten times the populations and so ten times the number of shops and thinking how can people possibly find anything in them when theres everything for sale and you just need ONE item.

No, I shop most of my stuff online now. Soooo much easier!

do you send half of it back though when its not what you want.

lol. I dont know which is more wasteful, online shopping or in person at malls. I think of all the packaging that is expended online and plus the huge warehouse and distribution centres and all the paperwork required.
Plus all the lost and delayed deliveries.

I usually keep what I order unless it’s something I received in error or damaged which is once in a rare while.

oh ok yea its a hassle. lot of couriers are not that careful with their goods and just chuck them at your door.
ok for soft items (like clothes) or few items but if you need to buy a lot of things or expensive things it does pay to check the items out first.

and with clothes you need to be sure of what you are buying sometimes the descriptions are misleading.

I found that online orders can be hit and miss. They are very glad to take your money tho.

jus come back from a shift at the mall, only to find my car hit with parking fine cos I failed to move it after 4 hours (I had a 4 and a half hour shift) grr

I spend all day working only to have the whole days wage to spend on a parking fine. Lord what do I do.

Good news the mall info said I could ask them to waive that fine as I was working there. I can also park in the special paid staff car park the whole day for $5.

It was steady trading and people were happy yesterday as they were mostly all buying gifts for their loved ones.

I can understand how 'retail therapy' can make people feel good provided they have the funds. I was given some mall vouchers last week and I have now spent them all on gifts...

If I owned a business I probably wouldnt buy into a site in a mall.

Its just that there are pros and cons of being tied to a mall. But if you value your independence, it seems you cant open and close whenever you want to in a mall.

Basically you are relying on the big department stores and supermarkets that anchor the mall to bring in the customers. But the truth is people dont have infinite scads of money (or the time) to spend on extra stuff after they have bought their groceries and the things they need to then spend on fripperies.

In the days before malls you just had a smaller strip of shops on the main road each indpendently owned selling different things, not huge stores selling EVERYTHING or many shops selling the exact same thing.
Maybe it took longer to shop in the olden days (and less people had cars) but it was more of a social occasion cos you could actually talk to the owner rather than a faceless corporate. (or self checkout machine)

I am supposing the phenomenon of malls was just a growth of the suburban consumerist culture. Having been born in this cultural environment its hard to see how it could be any different, but sometimes you just want to rail against it. I remember my big sister would drag me to the mall every school holiday as it was fun for her ...she had money, I didnt. And every christmas my goodness she would pressure the rest of the family to buy presents. (everyone had to buy presents for each other...her rules...I dont know why! )

we were like meh dont wanna go shopping. She even did it this week! Even when she isnt going to be around and is stuck in another country she was like..so what are you planned for christmas eve. Have you been shopping yet. She works in marketing natch. She has totally gone to the dark side lol

oh except she isnt currently employed atm. She would never actually work IN retail to understand what its really like. Even the shop assistants get annoyed with the constant marketing that goes on, urging people to buy stuff they dont really need.

That is hard to take for sure. I worked a Saturday once for the OT and on the way home I ran a stop sign. Everything I made went for the ticket. This was in 1997. No tickets since thank God.

This is a good report about the waiving of the fine.

My boss is the best. I was given a prezzy card for my christmas bonus and also, I dont have to spend it all on a parking fine!

And then...theres Boxing Day Sales straight after Christmas day. Everything 50 percent off...well all the Christmas stuff.