Corona Letters #47

 

Going to the Mall during a Pandemic

I don't think I've been to the mall since before Christmas and I had no intention of going until this pandemic thing we are in was all over.

However, my college-aged daughter needed some new shoes and pants and on-line shopping hasn't historically worked well for her for these items.

So, to the mall we went.

1.  The Shopping List

 This is my kid who has been very aware of fashion from an early age, and by fashion I mean she wants to wear whatever is "in".   I thought I was lucky when I had a second daughter and I thought I would be able to dress her in daughter #1's hand-me-downs but that was never to be.  Silly me for thinking that would ever come to pass.   This kid had an idea about what she wanted to wear from the time she was a tot.

She's always paid attention to people's shoes and seemed to have an innate understanding of what was "cool" to wear on her feet.

As for clothes, she started in Gymboree and then quickly moved through Justice, Aeropostle, American Eagle and finally Hollister as she moved through the ranks in grade school.   Once she got into college things got a little more complicated as she discovered designer labels and consignment shops.   She had her own job and money at this point, so how she spent it was up to her.

When she asked me to take her to the mall to purchase a few things I was both excited and nervous.  I hadn't been to the mall since the pandemic began, and to go with the kid who can spend hours deciding if a pair of jeans fits right made me a little anxious, but I was also happy to spend some time with her.   When I asked her what she wanted she had a very simple list:

    1. Sneakers

    2. Sweats

That's it?

"That's it, I mean, I spend all day in my room, in a chair, I want to be comfy."

"Okay" I said, "We can do sneakers and sweats."

In my mind's eye we would breeze into the big sports equipment store at one end of the mall, grab the stuff she needed and leave without ever entering "the mall".

You can guess how that went.

2.  The Mall Parking Lot

As we drove into the mall parking lot I could feel my anxiety increasing.   There were more cars and people than I was expecting.  Didn't they know there was a pandemic going on?  

This seemed like a very bad idea.

My daughter was smiling next to me.

I realized we were committed.

We armed ourselves with our masks.

3.  The Sports Store

Surprisingly, my daughter agreed to the one stop shopping idea.  She was all in for a quick trip.  As we made our way to the sneaker section,  her smile dimmed a bit.   It turns out there are two kinds of sneakers in this world.  There are the kind for people who do actual sports and there are the kind for people who just like to look like they do sports.   This store had the former and my daughter wanted the latter.   

I had a choice at this point.  I could say "Suck it up kid, find something you like," or...

we could venture into the mall and find the sneaker store that caters to the non-sports type of sneaker wearers.

I know many parents out there would choose option #1, but I've tried that with her many times and it ends up with a brand new pair of shoes sitting in the hall for months, unworn, as toes burst through the older, but cooler shoes.   So, I went with option #2.

4.  THE MALL

I felt a bit trepidatious as we entered the mall.   My heart was beating fast.   I felt like I could see bursts of coronavirus ping-ponging off the atrium walls, heading straight for us, so we serpentined our way to the shoe store.   The store was small and they had apparently not received the memo about the pandemic and while everyone was masked, even the clearly stoned sales clerk, no one was observing the six feet rule.   I was about to turn around when my daughter spotted the shoe she had been seeking.   Her stare was fixed and I could see the chosen sneaker surrounded by imaginary glitter and lights.

I knew we wouldn't leave the store without the chosen sneaker so I quickly got the sales clerks attention and asked for a "size 7.5 pronto". Well, I didn't say "pronto", that would have been rude, but I think I made it clear that he needed to make this sale quickly, if he was going to make it at all.  Perhaps it was my body language of half my body in the store, and half out of the store that made this clear.

I won't go into details of the trying on of the shoes but I will say that my daughter made a very quick shoe decision, perhaps the quickest of her life.   Perhaps my body language was also making her think, "If I want Mom to pay for this, then this is not the time to try on every shoe in the store."  She's smart that way.

5.  The Jeans Store

Since we were in the mall already, we happened to pass the jeans store that my daughter likes.   "I could use some new jeans" she murmured quietly.    I'm not sure how I got suckered into this one, maybe it was the 40%-60% sale sign out front, but the next thing I knew we were in the jeans store.

I might have turned around then and there but then my daughter is telling me that "Mom jeans" are the cool thing right now and she picked up a pair of jeans that had "Mom jeans" right on the label.

WTH?  I don't even want to wear Mom jeans, or be wearing jeans that are called "Mom jeans" and now they are labeling fashionable jeans for people of a non-mom age as "Mom jeans".    Of course I was now curious.   My daughter popped into the dressing room (which again caused me anxiety because no one was six feet apart in the waiting area).   She came out in a pair of jeans that looked NOTHING like the jeans I wear, perhaps it is her total lack of a MOM BODY!!!!!

Perhaps this is a brilliant marketing ploy by jean manufacturers to get Moms to continue buying their daughter's jeans during the pandemic by advertising, "Hey Moms!  Your daughters want to look just like you!"

HaHa.  Very funny.

Points to them though, I did buy her two pairs.   I think the thing that really appeals to Moms is the 60% off price tag.  THAT makes them Mom jeans for sure.

6.  The Sports Store.  Round #2

My daughter still needed sweatpants so she could sit in her off-campus apartment, staring at her computer all day, AND be comfortable, so we went back to the sports store.

The rack of sweat pants was right near the entrance and I muttered "pick two".

She dutifully did and didn't even ask to try them on.  

We went to the cash register and when the sales clerk told me the total I realized we were spending significantly more money on the two pairs of sweatpants than we had on the two pairs of fashionable jeans.  And you know what?  I didn't even care!  I was at the end of my mall-shopping-during-a-pandemic rope and I wanted to be done so I made the purchase.   She hadn't even tried them on.  Perhaps this kind of laissez-faire, off-the-rack shopping could make these "Dad Sweatpants"? (Okay that's probably a bad joke)

7.  The Parking Lot

After this last purchase I practically ran to the car and couldn't get in fast enough.  I ripped off my mask and doused my full body in hand sanitizer.

So that's going to the mall during a pandemic.

I think I'll do my Christmas shopping on-line.