Mall Diaries - Entry #1

Ok, so most of you know that we currently have a booth set up in the mall to catch those all those Christmas shoppers who might not otherwise consider tickets or gift cards for gifts. At least that was idea. Yes, we have caught some Christmas shoppers (not litterally, I don't think that would be good for business) but we've also been catching so much more...

Number one question we get is easily "Where is the shoe store?" - I'm sure I've never gone 15 minutes without being asked. In case you don't know - the shoe store is gone. It is nowhere. "Where are the washrooms?" and "Where is Heckbert Studios?" are also popular questions. There are two large signs right behind me with big arrows pointing to Heckberts. As our booth is right by the escalators I was quite amused by "How do you get to the third floor". Apparently this shopper grew up in a bungalow.

Then we've got shoppers seeking tickets that I don't have - Ann Murray at the Civic Centre, John Gracie at Trinity Church, breakfast with Santa... Yes, the newspaper does say that John Gracie tickets are available at a booth in this mall beside the big Christmas tree and yes this is a booth beside the Christmas tree and I do have tickets, but not for John Gracie. I can't explain the newspaper add, I don't know where you should go instead, all I know is that I do not have the tickets. I swear.

My favourite visitors to our mall kiosk? The seniors. 10am-2pm, Monday to Friday, is apparently a popular for seniors to visit the mall. Do they shop? Not as far as I can tell. They carry no bags and many don't even seem to actually enter stores. What do they do? They walk around, look at decorations, and they talk to people selling tickets in booths. Or sometimes they just use my chair for a few minutes as they need a rest from all of this non-shopping. I can only imagine how tiring non-shopping must be. One particularly chatty senior visits me usually every day and is very fascinated by this laptop. He says he's got to him one. He asks me if I can use it to look for jobs. I'm still not sure if it was a hypothetical question or if he actually wanted me to find him a job. To be safe, I told him no, I couldn't. The next day he was back, this time asking if you can play poker on this laptop. Again, I told him no. When not admiring the laptop he sometimes points out other shoppers who he knows. Or at least claims to know. "That's Granny over there. Yep, Granny." "Granny" is in a nearby store and gives no indication of knowing this man. He tells me Granny can get awful fiery sometimes and then he laughs and walks off.

So yes, the friends I've made are easily the highlight of my time spent in the mall. I may not know their names but I will never forget these people. Actually that's probably not true; I will likely forget them. And they will probably forget me soon too because they're old. Nevertheless they have brought joy to my days here and I like to think I did the same for them.

Sometimes I sell tickets too.