I went to our local "mall" today. Yes, it has a few good stores like Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret and Macy's, but it has way too many no-name stores and a number of vacant storefronts as well. There are fewer vacant storefronts right now since some temporary stores like Hickory Farms have moved in for the holiday shopping season, but the mall really does leave something to be desired. It does, however, have a Target, and it rules to have a Target at the mall.
Anyway, I arrived in the parking lot only to realized that everyone else has apparently decided to start their Christmas shopping. The only spaces readily available were at the fringes of the lot where no cart-return has ever been spotted, and when I'm going to be bringing lots of bags back to the car, I don't want to park far from a cart return. After driving around a bit, I happened upon someone with their backup lights on, so I lucked out there.
It was definitely much more crowded in there than usual, but I got my non-Target shopping done (I was partially successful with finding what I wanted) and then went to the craziness that is Target on a Saturday in the holiday season. The aisles were crowded and people were clueless and/or rude. I overheard one man call his (I presume) 12- or 13-year-old son a name so crass that I won't even type it here with asterisks to fill in the blanks. I thought "That can't be what I heard," only to hear him say it again. 'Tis the season to be jolly.
I spent way too much time finding or trying to find what I needed, but at least I didn't have to wait that long at checkout. Still, this is the reason why I started shopping early and why I like to do my Christmas shopping online much of the time. I've decided I'm just not going anywhere near a mall again until the after-Christmas sales are done. I don't need more of this. I want to save up my patience to use with my children, and not waste it on situations that I can easily avoid.
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