I’m not a shopper by any means but when my wife insists I go with her I do the smart thing; just go and make the best of it. Arguing or complaining doesn’t do any good. She could care less if the college football championship game is on TV or any other major sporting event, she’ll still find chores for me to finish before she gets home from the store.
Believe me, over the years I’ve tried many different tricks to get out of doing chores on the weekend but none of them worked. As stupid as it might sound I use to think maybe the only reason she gave me chores on Saturdays was because she didn’t like the idea of me having fun when she wasn’t so I convinced myself the next time a game was on I’d do my best to look bored still. I didn’t jump up and down with excitement when my team scored; I just sat like a bump on a log. In a few minutes she came over and turned the TV off and handed me the list of chores. I still don’t know how she figured out what my scam was but she did.
Eventually I gave up trying to get out of going with her on Saturdays and I was determined to find a way to make it fun going. I did and now I am a dedicated people watcher. When I go it’s mostly a psychological thing at first but now it takes no effort. My attitude is 180 degrees different than before. I follow a routine that’s resulted in the mall becoming one of my favorite places on Saturday afternoons.
The first thing I do is grab a seat that’s close to the food court and has a good view for watching shoppers walking by. This drill makes it fun hanging out here all Saturday afternoon while my wife shops; and better yet it’s given me the perfect excuse for not doing those chores on her infamous “To Do” list.
People watching at the mall can be very interesting and humorous. You’d never believe some of the things I’ve seen people doing. Its fun watching the antics of others here when they don’t know someone’s watching. For example, there’s the housewife I see almost every Saturday. I don’t think she has ever come here for herself. Every time I’ve seen her she’s carrying something for her son. I only saw him once and wasn’t impressed. He looked like the typical teenager with that bored look when he’s with his mom. Looking at the bag she’s carrying it looks like she bought him a tie. He probably only told her this morning that he had a special event to go to this evening that required a tie; poor woman. Hope he reciprocates when he’s older.
Over there is the group of young housewives that meet every Saturday. They meet at the food court for coffee first and then visit every woman’s store in the mall. They must have a mutual agreement to celebrate a day specifically for a mom’s day out which I totally understand and agree with. Now I hear the usual group of teenagers coming so it must be raining outside. They only show up when the weather is bad because there isn’t any other place they can meet probably because none of their parents want them hanging out at their house. When they come here they always start out in the food court and as always will be chased out for making too much noise and not buying anything from any food vendor. I can’t complain about them because I did the same thing when I was their age and still do.
Ahhh, here comes one of my fellow people watchers, Sam. Later Tom and Lou will show up. We’re all in the same boat; having the choice of coming here or stay home and do chores. It’s a no brainer; hanging out with these guys at the mall beats staying at home doing chores.
We got room for more if you want to join us.