What I'm Not..........

I'm not a mall shopper, I really don't like shopping at all, unless it is for art supplies.  Recently, I had cause to be at our local mall.  It is small and I like that, it is old and not fancy, if I need to got to a mall, this is my choice. 

It was a bit of culture shock.  Have you ever been at home in the winter, say when the kids are out of school for Christmas vacation, everything is centered around the home, the farm, your little center of the world?  Then you must go to a high school basketball game?  Suddenly you are thrown into a world that you feel unaccustom, the lights are too bright, the noise level is deafening, the movement takes some getting used to as well.  Somehow the adjustment comes.  That is how I felt while in the mall for only one hour.  The lights were too bright, the noise, the Christmas decorations, the stacks of clothes, the STUFF!  Honestly, how do I live without all this stuff? 

It's easy, in my small world, (the gourd studio, the farm and art/flute events) it's not about how fancy you are dressed.  I must admit the clothes looked very pretty, the colors, the textures, the style, still it's nothing I can't live without.  I am happy in my black shirts and pants with bright scarves, a change in jewelery and a vest if it's cold.  I wasn't drawn to the stacks of neatly displayed stuff as I tried to find my way through a store that had a path to zigzag you through several departments to tempt you with goodies.  The mirrors and lights and pathway reminded me of being trapped in a crazy fun house at the fair.  I almost panicked!

If I go to a mall once a year it is to go in and come right back out.  I can't fathom spending hours there any more.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I felt I had to do it when my children were small.  I was a conservative shopper then, always looking for the bargains. 

My second BIGGEST PET PEEVE, the fact that a few years ago a new mall was built.  It sits between three other malls, all within a fifteen minute drive from one another!  Less than an hours drive from one to the furthest one away, that is with traffic conditions and traffic lights!  It is insane!  Who needs this much stuff?

Why rip up perfectly wonderful family farmland to build another building with black wall to wall pavement and cement.  Are we never happy with what we have? Do we really need to have newer and bigger to keep us interested in shopping for more stuff!  What are we thinking?  I also don't understand businesses leaving a building to build another superstore across the street, leaving the old one behind, sitting empty.  Our county seat has lost all downtown business because they have allowed the merchants keep building at the edge of town, the edge of town is slowly connecting to our neighbors "edge of town merchants".  All the while the center of town is empty and struggling to survive. 

I haven't even mentioned where all the merchandise comes from, is it AMERICAN made?  I will spare you my thoughts on this, I'm sure you have already figured them out..........

I am sorry to be on my band wagon this morning, so close to the holiday season, but really it is important to think about what we are doing.  Shop small businesses, support American made products and maybe just maybe we can make the shift to being a more thoughtful consumers.  But then they didn't ask me.............. what I am not is a supporter of taking the land and filling it with another mall!