Malls and Meandering
I don’t walk all that fast. At least I don’t think I do. But lately when I’m in Walmart, or more recently the mall, I noticed that there seems to be a new hobby by some: wandering the mall. Or wandering Walmart/Costcos/etc. I mean, don’t most people go there with a goal in mind? Mine happens to be: Get in, get thing, get out. Yeah, it’s possible that “fast as possible” is part of the plan. But the last time I was in a mall, it seemed that everyone was just there to stroll or…stand perfectly still in the middle of the pathway.
Instead of going in a store, they pushed a baby carriage or munched some snack while…wandering. AIMLESSLY. Yeah, yeah, I get that there are things to see in the windows, but it isn’t like they were looking at the windows. Besides, I can promise you that they are almost always the same things in the windows that were there last week anyway. Same thing with Walmart. The inventory really doesn’t change all that often. It certainly isn’t very interesting. So, no, you probably don’t need to stand there in the middle of the door, not going in, but blocking all traffic from actually getting PAST the store. If you’re in Walmart, WHY are you standing there with your cart blocking the aisle staring at your PHONE??? It will not tell you the price of what you need. It will not tell you where to find the canned peaches. No, it really won’t. And nothing will jump into the cart and go home and cook itself for dinner.
Hmph. If you gotta be in these places, seems to me you should keep things moving along. No dead stops to stand around and chat. Chat later. GET. OUT. OF. THE. WAY.
And while I’m ranting, why is it that when bad weather is expected the weatherman sounds so THRILLED???
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Some people keep their grocery lists on their phone, but most who are standing around staring at their phone are texting while walking. Annoying, but a bit safer than texting while driving. Your rant is a good reminder of why I stay out of malls and stores as much as possible. I’m one of those “get in, get it, get out” people too! One thing you didn’t mention, and my biggest pet peeve, is smokers who congregate directly in front of the door to enjoy their cancer sticks. Not only do they block the entrance, they subject all the rest of us to their noxious fumes.
Comment by booklover/Dee — February 28, 2012 @ 1:49 pm
Thank you!! Do you know how many evil, rude comments I’ve made in my head whilst I maneuver around people like this?? I don’t mind the mall wanderers too much since I seldom go there, but the WalMart/Kmart wanderers?? And don’t eve get me started on Ikea. Rant, rant, rant
Comment by Michelle Scott — February 28, 2012 @ 1:50 pm
Your rant has reminded me of something – book store politeness. You know, the idea of getting out of the way of another shopper so that you both can peruse the shelves and not have to try and see through each other? Speaking quietly to others or on the phone so you aren’t disturbing the shoppers/readers. This has gone out the window. I suppose it went away with the bulk of the brick and mortar book stores. I see it occasionally, but it is rare – like the perfect fitting pair of pants.
However, this is also all completely related to the idea that I have seen prosper and grow lately that every person is out to get every other person so everyone must only look out for themselves, take what they want when they can or they’ll never get it. It makes me so angry. This kind of thing shows up as basic selfishness (not realizing that the store/aisle/parking lot/driveway/road/doorway doesn’t belong to them)or outright rudeness (speeding around others on the roads, forcing others to slow down or move over to get out of their way) and negligence (tossing trash out of car windows, picking up products in a store and leaving them elsewhere in the store when you decide not to buy them).
Hm. I think I forgot to take my anti cranky pills today…
Comment by April — February 28, 2012 @ 2:02 pm
Was that you who ran me over at Costco when I was checking the time on my cell phone? I know it took me a while but I was straining my old eyes to see the time to see how long I had spent browsing around the store…..Then some lady whizzed by……Hmmph!
Comment by P Camp — February 28, 2012 @ 3:13 pm
Sorry about that Bo! Although it probably wasn’t me because when I whiz by people spin around and get knocked sideways…I tend to leave a vacuum in my wake and it knocks people right over!
Comment by Maria — February 28, 2012 @ 4:36 pm
I’m not in the mall very often, although it was so hot here this summer, we had to walk the mall. We went early so the crowds weren’t too bad, but there were times when we had to stand there and couldn’t get around the throngs of standing people. Move! Move!!!!
Comment by Maria — February 28, 2012 @ 5:43 pm
Maria, you need to have consideration for us old people who can’t move as fast as you can.
Comment by Joan — March 3, 2012 @ 1:33 pm
Joan, you know it is not the old people standing around! They have business to take care of. It’s the young ones. I think they are scouting for dates or something. They are so AIMLESS!
Comment by Maria — March 3, 2012 @ 1:47 pm