Its A Mall World After All

You know what's weird? Walking through a mall when its closed. On Sundays, South Park Mall closes at 6:00, but the department stores stay open until 7:00. Since Polly and I have been out of the country for two weeks, we thought it would be a good idea to go shopping to get some school clothes tonight. So, after I got off snack bar duty, we were off to the mall. Thats how I got to experience "after hours South Park". In trying to get from Belk to Macy's, we had to walk through a practically deserted mall. There were a few people here and there (walking from one big store to another like us), and a janitor mopping the tile beside the fountain, but aside from that, all was still. The lights were dimmed, or off depending on the portion of the hallway, and all the stores were vacant. There was no "mall music" filtering through the sound system, no attendants asking you to try their perfume, no crazy teenagers eating an Annie's pretzel. It was quiet. And it got me thinking. Without the people and the hubub, all that stuff in the store windows was just...stuff. Suddenly, without the glimmering lights, and the "oh you have to get it!"s from store attendants, that $400 purse didn't look so grand sitting by itself in a window. It just made me think about the extreme materialism that our world has fallen into today. People today seem to add an extra emphasis on whatever is "in", no matter what the price. Everyone is a victim of it- look at me. I am currently writing this post from my amazing brand spankin' new mac book. Hypocritical? Probably. I mean, don't get me wrong- pretty clothes and new computers are always fun...every once in a while. But when you just HAVE to have the newest thing all the time? Thats when theres a problem. And its not like that one thing will make you happy- a pair of lucky brand jeans can't solve your problems, as much as the store clerk would beg to disagree. Thats all I'm saying.  I didn't mean this post to be all deep or serious, but oh well. Just my ponderings. If you have a chance, you should walk through the mall at night some time. All this thinking of mine aside, it is pretty neat. Plus its a unique time to window shop- you don't even have the temptation to go in and buy stuff!