The Mall

For most of my life I viewed buying clothes as an unpleasant but necessary part of existence. Society demands I wear clothes, and so does the weather (most of the time, around here anyway). Eventually, clothes shopping stopped being so horrible, clothes more interesting. I never really started liking malls, other places are nicer, but I will admit that they are an efficient way for the many to get clothes and kill time. Mama often has me tag along to help her choose outfits. Yesterday's trip was like this.

One of the restaurants at the mall Is called Wasabi, and has one of those futuristic Japanese conveyor belts with portions: inari sushi, sashimi, seaweed, wasabi peas. Different colored plates are different prices, ranging from 2-5$ a plate, all going round and round. It's very efficient - the waitresses can deal with more customers at a time and don't have to take an order, and it's easier to decide on what you want when it's passing by you - and easier to take more than you should if the temptation keeps flickering past. It reminds me of the Charlie Chaplin feeding machine, except making leisure more efficient instead of the workplace.

Across from the Wasabi a store had recently opened - Uniqlo, also from Japan (I'm sure its placement is not an accident.) It's had an aggressive ad campaign and the store was abuzz. It is larger than most spaces at the mall, lined with identically repeating plain articles of clothing. Thirty gray puffy vests on one side of a rack, thirty maroon, otherwise identical puffy vests on the other side. More on the walls. Square shelves all the way to the ceiling with socks, different patterns in each square cube. As new-time costumers, they asked us to fill out a short questioner about our experience. Usually I wouldn't have, but this time I did, write in comment: The set-up is alientating. Repetitive and robotic.

but maybe these leggings will last?