Shopping Mall Pano
My wife goes into the hair stylist and I'm left alone to wander in my thoughts in the sterile banality of the shopping mall while looking at all the same chain stores that look exactly their counterparts in a thousand other malls. I think back to over sixty years ago when I would go out the house with my folks and there was Slim's deli run by a tall Ichabod Crane like man who made the best sandwiches. Next door was Gus's candy store which had a full soda fountain where I would have bananas splits and buy comic books. Down the street was the local bar where cigar chewing men would swill down beer while watching ball games on a 15 inch black and white TV mounted at the front corner of the bar while bookies in the back would take bets while my brother and I would have burgers and cokes. There was also the local druggist, barber shop, stationary store, toy store, bike shop, hardware store, army navy store, pizza shop and they knew everyone in the neighborhood by name and you felt welcomed for giving them your business. My mind snaps back to the present as my wife asks me how does her haircut looks and starts talking about my nephew's and my son's wedding. I look across the new mall at the all the cloned stores and the cloned restaurants which seemed to be mostly staffed by the same cloned 21 year old colleges students while overhead Phil Collins songs have been reduced to old peoples piped in music with the only thing enjoyable is the air conditioning.
Shopping Mall Pano
My wife goes into the hair stylist and I'm left alone to wander in my thoughts in the sterile banality of the shopping mall while looking at all the same chain stores that look exactly their counterparts in a thousand other malls. I think back to over sixty years ago when I would go out the house with my folks and there was Slim's deli run by a tall Ichabod Crane like man who made the best sandwiches. Next door was Gus's candy store which had a full soda fountain where I would have bananas splits and buy comic books. Down the street was the local bar where cigar chewing men would swill down beer while watching ball games on a 15 inch black and white TV mounted at the front corner of the bar while bookies in the back would take bets while my brother and I would have burgers and cokes. There was also the local druggist, barber shop, stationary store, toy store, bike shop, hardware store, army navy store, pizza shop and they knew everyone in the neighborhood by name and you felt welcomed for giving them your business. My mind snaps back to the present as my wife asks me how does her haircut looks and starts talking about my nephew's and my son's wedding. I look across the new mall at the all the cloned stores and the cloned restaurants which seemed to be mostly staffed by the same cloned 21 year old colleges students while overhead Phil Collins songs have been reduced to old peoples piped in music with the only thing enjoyable is the air conditioning.