Shopping Mall Culture

Most of my adult life ( I AM closer to thirty than 20 now), I have felt an uneasiness about shopping malls. Today, after three hours in the mall -longer than I have spent in a mall in a very long time- I discovered that being in a mall is actually an exercise in suspending reality. Once through the main entrance, all my senses were suddenly forced into turbo because of the excessive stimuli: the smells of the food court, bright lights, the many other reality-suspending citizens. All of a sudden, I forgot what I really came for, and was infused with a sense of need for so many other things. "Should I get a coffee? It smells so warm and cozy." "Wow! So many sales!" Cost became relative. For example, I reasoned, " That fleecy-lined wool toque was originally $29.99, and now it's only $19.99. That must be a good price..." It was in that moment that I remembered why I avoid malls: I become confused about what I need and what I want. (I have a box of warm wool toques in the closet.) I had hit a wall; after all the excitement of so many choices, so many deals, so many colours... I only wanted out. It was a feeling of disgust really. I knew of a reality beyond the walls of the mall where toques do not cost more than the dress pants I had just purchased, where a person recognizes that sometimes, you just don't need anything that you don't already have. I fear for all those who become lost in this shopping world where needs and wants become as mixed up as the smell from New York Fries and Orange Julius.