Tiny town is about 30 minutes down the smooth highway from Cherryvale Mall. This is the mall we frequent; this mall Santa has had my child in his lap. Yesterday a local man was arrested for plotting a terrorist attack against the same mall. Dan’s reaction – "Good for the FBI doing their job!" My reaction - "Hmm that makes me a little nervous." I guess Cherry Vale mall is the place to make your grand declaration; a few years ago another man lit himself afire and tried to hurl himself over the railing moments before Dan and I walked in to shop. I remember Dan turning to me and saying “Gross, somebody is burning something.”
It’s not in a bad neighborhood; in fact it’s tucked into the suburbs and has always been considered the nice mall in town. There is a Bergner’s, JC Penny’s and Sears and they just added a Macy’s. They have a Starbucks and a local Coffee Shoppe and any mall that can support two upscale coffee joints isn’t ghetto or Podunk. Ok, ok they do still sell mugs with your kid’s face vacuumed formed onto it and belt buckles with your favorite NASCAR number on them and polished hunks of wood with your name burned into it proclaiming your house “The Bombadee Home” at the kiosks in center court but the Santa Clause has a real white beard not one he ties on and the food court has fresh sushi and bubble tea.
I’ll tell you what the bigger risk going there is – the play area. Every time we go Ella begs to go to the play area and in an effort to run her ragged enough to sit nicely in the stroller while I try on the fourth pair of blue jeans that I can’t bend over in without my underwear sticking out of the back, I park myself on a bench and let her play. The next week our whole family gets a cold. It’s a germ field of kid goo and we are not immune. Last year we suffered 3 ear infections at least two a direct result of that grodey ol’ playground that looks like the Candy Land Board come to life but is actually a micro-organic cesspool.
Maybe I’ll just buy everything online.
2 comments:
With our youngest, I was finally wise enough to realize that the world was a germ farm and I struggled with being a bit of a germaphobe. Bald Man kept reminding me that Little Man would never have good immune system if I kept being a freak, so I bit my lip and let him chew on the pew in front of us.
Children have been surviving public places longer than anti bacterial wipes have been around. Just have her wash her hands well after you play.
I know - I'm just sick of snot, both my own and my family member's.
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