introspective periscope : peeking inside since Y2K ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- let them eat oats and carrots in these shoes? - seventh of january, 2003 "i once met a man with a sense of adventure. he was dressed to thrill wherever he went. "~kirsty maccoll the mall is sort of creepy now that all of the shoppers don't have gifting to worry about. where there were hundreds by the hour giving the people counter something to beep about there are now only new years resolvers walking off calories around the perimeter of the structure. there are very few real shoppers and a girl in my vocation has little to do but wait for the perfect quota filler to come by, entertaining herself watching the walkers walk and chatting up the handsome old men in the att wireless kiosk. at least thats how it goes until about six or seven o'clock. after the dinner hour passes, a strange breed of teenager comes to take over the mall with all of their friends. i wonder what it must be like to be a teenager now in the general income bracket that our mall intends to attract: to never really have to spend time at home because you have a brand new car when you are sixteen. to have a hundred dollars a night from mom and dad who would rather have them spend the night at the mall rather than at home, talking or doing homework. (i'm not sure when these kids do homework. a mystery i have yet to figure.) to be emblazoned with branded clothing from loudmouthed abercrombie and fitch and cookie cutter american eagle outfitters. to look the same as everyone else. to have a cell phone that flashes bigger better faster brighter....enough to give an epileptic child a fit every time a seventeen year old receives a text message from the other side of the mall. i was amusing myself with such observations when the herd of them came up one side of the corridor. they all looked familiarly the same, of course. i have seen the leather jackets and the stonewashed jeans and the teeshirts emblazoned with fictitious companies that are supposed to be amusing. but apparently, during my brief recess from the mall, a new fashion wave is crashing down on the night time mallrats. and its loud. there were eight of them, i think. a herd, like i said. a stampede, practically. and they were shaking their short frosted manes and grunting their greatness to one another as they came clopping, each in a different shade of coloured suede workboots unlaced and flopping. and then i realized that teenage boys are essentially horses. i never really looked at boys too much when i was that age. i never really looked at anyone. i was never boy-crazy; i never found much amusement in the hunky postcards from the beach. i just never took the time to notice, i guess. so now, in my 24th year, i realize: boys are such animals. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .what came before. - .what happened next. a diamond at the bottom of the drain - 20 october 2017 |
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