Scenes from a Mall

This morning I had to have a flat tired patched at the Sears Auto Center. Rather than sit in the waiting room I decided to venture out into the adjoining mall.

The mall -- any mall -- is an interesting place before 10:00 AM. Most of the stores still have the steel security gates in place. The food court is dark and empty. The small kiosks which sell sunglasses or perfume are covered with large tarps. And of course there are the Mall Walkers.

The Mall Walkers are an interesting bunch. It is a universal law that no Mall Walker is under 70 years old. They are almost always female, and those who bring their husbands leave them to their newspaper and coffee at one of the many "resting spots" in the mall, which usually consist of leather recliners or comfortable couches. In most cases, these abandoned husbands end up falling asleep.

Countryside Mall, the mall closest to my house, has a large ice skating rink between Dillard's and Macy's. It was at the ice skating rink that I witnessed the scene which inspired me to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and share this.

In the middle of the ice-skating rink was a group of about twenty ladies, all of them senior citizens, who were waving around hula-hoops with streamers attached to them, going through some kind of synchronized dance routine to the songs "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis and "Light My Fire" by the Doors. These two songs played repeatedly for about 15 minutes. I just sat there with my coffee and watched with a mixture of shock and amusement. Where else would I see this but at a mall on a Wednesday morning at 9:30 AM?

I took a very grainy shot with my camera phone, and thanks to the wonders of the Internet I can share this lovely story with all of you.