Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Shuffling at the mall

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit I am now a mall-walker. I'm trying to eat better, get more exercise, and be more healthy in general. I like taking walks during my lunch break, but right now it's so snowy and wet out that I don't want to walk outdoors.

So for 3 days now I have been doing laps at the Fashion Place mall. I've got my trusty Zune so I can block out most of the elevator music. I like putting it on shuffle and then listening to whatever comes up. I do admit, however, that it feels kind of odd to listen to Modest Mouse, then a sermon by King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon, then a Clash song, then the Sermon on the Mount, then a Disneyland song, a poem in Spanish by Pablo Neruda, and then something by Morrissey.

I usually hate the mall, but this has been a very interesting exercise. Retail stores always makes me contemplate the futile and unsatisfying quest of trying to find happiness in "stuff." It also makes me wonder, "why aren't these people at work?, and "don't these people have anything better to do?"

Also, I noticed that people who dress the same hang out together, (or is it vice-versa?) I saw the following groups of people walking together; two yuppies in shirt and tie, three hoodlums in hoodies and baseball hats, two short girls wearing skirts and trendy glasses, two older bald guys with matching facial hair. Maybe thats why I don't have any friends; there aren't many tall bearded pre-midde-aged men around.

It also occurs to me that the people that work there are going to start recognizing me. They'll be thinking, "there's that mountain man guy again", it must be 12:30.

I bet the pioneers never had to think about stuff like this.

1 comment:

Scott said...

Don't you hate that about the shuffle option? They really should invent some way so that you can select which songs you want it to shuffle between. Oh yeah - I don't think you look too mountain mannish Eric - more like a really tall bearded tech guy (aren't tech guys known for having beards?)
-Scott