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also Shopping Your forebears shopped at markets, in town centers, along roadsides. Though still in evidence today, these traditional sources have dwindled. The MALL is now the place to go. Whether indoors or out, these megalopolises of merchandise offer an astounding array of product. Usually convenient and comfortable, malls beckon the rich and poor, the sophisticated and the great unwashed. Everyone is welcome: all cultures, all classes. No distinctions are made; no one is excluded. An excellent means for promoting egalitarianism. Everyone can get along when they shop. What could be better? Lots of stuff for lots of people to buy.
But … you might consider what else is going on in
these shopping ‘Mecca’s’. Greed, avarice, vanity, sloth,
excess?? You can certainly find these ‘propensities’ in many
other settings. Malls, however, with an astounding abundance of
‘wares’, attract hordes that ‘feast’ with abandon if not
hysteria. “Over there!!” “Look!!” “Must have that!!” “I want,
I want, I want.” Hours and energy are consumed by efforts to
acquire and make something ‘else’ one’s own. Temperance is a
rare concept in such a setting. So one may wish to dole out
visits to these ‘product’ behemoths. Try to be practical. Of
course occasional serendipity may be good for the ‘soul’.
RETURN TO MALL DEFINITIONS
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