A Pandemic Plea…I Want To Live In A Mall!

It was just a few weeks ago, and I was having a pretty rough time with my computer. It was not behaving very well!  I tried to be very kind to it, but that didn’t seem to have any effect at all.  It still continued it’s little games, and I had to shut it down manually too many times.  It was then I knew I had only one alternative…and that was to take it into an Apple.  But alas, I am upstate New York and the nearest Apple to me happens to be one hour away in Albany!

In a Mall!

Needless to say I was not thrilled about this trip to a Mall!  But my husband said, “Good thing you’re going to Apple…just be grateful for that.”  I gave him a snarky look.

I have to say that the ride to Albany was quite beautiful.  Leaves in red and gold and bright yellow, put me in a bit of a better mood when we finally got to the Crossgates Mall.  We drove up a winding road with beautiful foliage on either side, to the top of a hill.  At first glance it seemed like a rather nice looking Mall. But so what? What Mall isn’t?

Making our way through the entrance where many young people in masks were coming out, laughing and full of energy, I started to relax. But as soon as I got inside and walked a few steps, it hit me!  At that moment, there should have been a film score playing a beautiful and heartbreaking overture, as I was lifted up and transported into a world that I had only remembered, that existed maybe ten months ago.

But this, actually seemed an even better world than the world that I had remembered!

The floors were all shades of tan and cream, and looked like a beautiful marble covering. The lighting was gorgeous, with a warm, cozy, inviting glow, giving a sparkle to everything that was around it.   And…all the stores were open!  Enticing displays and inviting windows, beckoning you to come in.  Clothing stores, Sneakers, Candy, A Taste of Mexico, etc, etc… All together, 212 stores in a winding trail of architecture that seemed to go on endlessly.  A beautiful set of escalators transported you to a cozy second floor where there was another array of shops. People eating in Food Courts and strolling down the corridors as if nothing had changed. I felt like I had entered a portal to the past.  The only difference was that people were wearing masks, but I was so used to them I didn’t care at all.

My husband asked me what was going on, and why I looked so besotted in a Mall! I know he thought I’d lost it. My mind, that is…but I remembered this life. I remembered it and wanted it back.  So I told my husband to go back home…that I wanted to sleep here.  And that I may want to live here full time.

He looked at me like he thought he might have to take me to a sanitarium.

We took the computer into the Apple store and were told we had to leave it overnight.  That meant that we had to come back the next day.  I was thrilled.

On the way home I bubbled over with Mall speak.  My husband quickly put on an old Beatles disk and turned up the volume.

I slept really well that night and the next day we headed back to the Mall. Waiting to pick up the computer, I drifted around pathways, stopping to see what people were eating in the lovely Food Courts. I wanted to fall into one of the overstuffed leather massage chairs, but they were off limits because of the Pandemic.

After a while I returned to my husband who was ready to strangle me if we didn’t get out of there soon…So we picked up my computer and left.

But I was already planning my next move.  I would get a big suitcase, take what I needed, and head back as soon as I could get an Uber, and snuggle up somewhere on the second floor for about a month. Then I think I could come back rested and recharged and ready to face life in Coronaville once again.

Or could I??

Happy Mall hunting, Hip Silvers!