View Full Version : God I Miss The F$^*()##! Shopping Mall...
I admit as a young adult I began to hate it. I wanted people to get out of my damn way so I could buy the crap I need and go back home. Guess it's true you don't appreciate what you have until you have something different.
So I'm printing out yet another return label so I can return another piece of crap to Amazon for the umpteenth time because despite what the listing said and the glowing reviews of "verified purchasers" I ended up with more crap that doesn't work, wrong size or just so horribly unacceptable in quality that "Made in China" doesn't quite cover it.
So I'm still going out the door, only instead of the mall I have to drive to UPS to drop off more crap from the internet that I'd have never considered buying for two seconds if it was on a shelf in front of me.
And now I have to try and find the same shit only well made and without paying 5 times what it should cost. And just when I find something that might be ok, I have to register on the website and pretty much have to become a computer programmer to figure out why this particular website won't save my shipping info even though every other website seems to be working fine.
Sure I could hit customer service and explain my difficulty registering with the website with "Steve" who is "pleased to be helping me kindly" but somehow I don't believe he is going to solve the mystery of why the crappy website won't save my registration information no matter how many copy / paste solutions he sends me. And honestly if I can't get the damn website to save my shipping info, I probably don't want to give them my paypal information anyway.
It's just too bad there isn't a big building full of stores that sell the things I might want to buy. Because if that existed, I'd have made all my purchases already. And as much as shopping in the mall used to sometimes suck, I never had to update my java program to buy some crap for my living room.
Yes there was even a time when Wal Mart was full of acceptable quality items, often advertised as "proudly made in America" at prices even I could afford when I was working my ass off for not a lot of money. What happened to that?
Nothings really cheaper with the internet anymore. Take music, sure it's .99 a song. But that's about what we used to pay for an album with 8-10 songs on it, 8.99 or around there. If it was a greatest hits compilation, those were sometimes only 6.99 only you actually had a vinyl record in your possession rather than some digital info that is emailed to you that costs almost nothing to distribute.
It's so bad I actually even miss mall food. It wasn't great, but it was edible and slightly better than the fast food crap from everyplace else.
And here is a great one, last week I actually managed to get a decent door mat to put my shoes on when I come in from outside. Only some jackass actually ordered VINEGAR from the internet and whatever kind of container it was in broke open and UPS delivered a box saturated in vinegar to my door. Who the hell orders vinegar from the internet? Why would you not just buy that at the store?!? So now I'm waiting on a replacement for something that would have actually been ok and I have to find a box to send the vinegar door mat back to Amazon with it.
I think I have four different items from four different orders going back to Amazon this week. I'd shop at Wal Mart but unfortunately it's the same shit, but at least I know it's crap because I can see it on the shelf in front of me so I just leave it there.
I really don't like online shopping unless it's something I already know. Even then. If I can't see it and feel it im not buying it. Luckily for me I'm not a big purchaser anyway. Think I used Amazon less than half a dozen times since it's been a thing. I did order a revolver holster last year for a class and some speed loaders for a Colt since the gun stores seemed to only carry S&W K frame. That's it! I can't think of anything I need that I have to use Amazon that often.
Diamondback
05-13-20, 23:03
I feel your pain, man... I've had a few almost tremor-free weeks so I've started to consider trying to build models again... but no effing hobby shops thanks to Inslee, and the kinds of paint I use most etailers won't ship.
I know, it's a first-world problem, but... maybe I should see if the ten-year-old Vallejo acrylics I used back when I was custom painting Axis & Allies ships are still good.
Put me in the other basket. I hate being around so many people and love being able to order things off of Amazon and not have to go among them.
The Mall was always a novelty for us in rural New Mexico. Something to check out when you hit the big city. Mail Order has been the way of life for us. The railroad came into this State from Colorado in 1880 and the Sears & Roebuck catalog was a window to the rest of the world.
I just wonder what has happened to all the Chinese Massage Chair operators in Malls nationwide? Those Goomers never spoke English very well, and I figured they were all Chi-Com Sleeper Cell military in the US waiting to be activated. Tin foil stuff for sure, but what a great plot aspect to include in some future movie?
Diamondback
05-13-20, 23:13
To elaborate on my prior, I hate dealing with people too--but right now ALL the stupid is concentrated in the few open places ALL the time, I'd rather it be spread out among the crowd and diluted.
Diamondback
05-13-20, 23:19
I just wonder what has happened to all the Chinese Massage Chair operators in Malls nationwide? Those Goomers never spoke English very well, and I figured they were all Chi-Com Sleeper Cell military in the US waiting to be activated. Tin foil stuff for sure, but what a great plot aspect to include in some future movie?
Good point--I've long thought that if I were the PRC preparing for the Long March, I wouldn't raise an army over there and risk getting it across the Pacific, but rather send a ton of deep-cover sleepers to build lives here, spawn a buttload of kids here and indoctrinate/train them here. Make *us* pay for and support the forces that once they achieve sufficient strength would invade from within like a metastatic cancer.
That's actually pretty mild for the kind of underhanded schemes in their playbook... look up a book titled Unrestricted Warfare, written by a couple senior colonels in the PLA's war college, sometime, it basically advocates and espouses economic/terrorist warfare of the kind we're experiencing now.
Steyr
Amazon is actually making you send the vinegar mat back? Usually when there is a problem like that they either send me another one and tell me to keep it, or refund me and tell me to keep it. About the only time I've had to actually send stuff back is when I just decide I don't like it or need it after all.
I don’t recall the last time I was in a mall....at least 9-10 years ago.
Why not go to the hardware store and buy a door mat? I think hardware stores are still open as essential in every state. Why go to the mall?
Put me in the other basket. I hate being around so many people and love being able to order things off of Amazon and not have to go among them.
That was me, at first.
Mostly because I was ordering most everything I needed from my wholesale suppliers so TruSpec polos and 24/7 pants were a known quantity.
It's housewares, and tools and all the other shit I have to repurchase since moving that is just killing me. I just wanted a simple Westminster mantle clock like every house I knew as a kid had, I was willing to pay...I just wanted the real thing with actual clockwork and chimes.
99% of the crap on the net, even the expensive crap is either a tinny sounding thing or in some cases a digital recording of the bell chimes. There is nothing I'd call mechanical clock works in any of them. But when you had malls, you had stores and some had some high end stuff for not a bad price.
Steyr
Amazon is actually making you send the vinegar mat back? Usually when there is a problem like that they either send me another one and tell me to keep it, or refund me and tell me to keep it. About the only time I've had to actually send stuff back is when I just decide I don't like it or need it after all.
I don't even think they read what I wrote. They sent me a replacement and had me print out a label. I have to send the vinegar mat back so I won't pay for the replacement.
Why not go to the hardware store and buy a door mat? I think hardware stores are still open as essential in every state. Why go to the mall?
Not sure about Michigan on buying a door mat.
Back in the 1980's you could buy AR's and HK-91's in sporting goods stores in the mall. I think that would make Millennials' heads explode today.
Business_Casual
05-14-20, 05:39
Put me in the other basket. I hate being around so many people and love being able to order things off of Amazon and not have to go among them.
Indeed.
Phillygunguy
05-14-20, 06:34
The mall that's about 5 minutes away from me has been dying a slow death. It's sad that while they didn't have the best stores they were convenient. Now they mostly have kiosks, a place that sells CBD products, a nail salon and Boscovs plus a food court. But I agree it's frustrating. I bought scrubs online and the damn pants are a little long and it took 2 weeks for them to send it to me. And now I'm like F it I'll wear them cause I need them. I do enjoy buying things from Brownells on line though. But for everything else it sucks
Back in the 1980's you could buy AR's and HK-91's in sporting goods stores in the mall. I think that would make Millennials' heads explode today.No it wouldn't. Millennials would have been kids at that point
No it wouldn't. Millennials would have been kids at that point
Im a millennial, bought an ak at the mall when I turned 18.
We are about to open back up here, thank God. I hate shopping online.
We got our first mall around 1980 and best I can recall, JC Penny sold firearms at that location for a few years.
Im a millennial, bought an ak at the mall when I turned 18.
We are about to open back up here, thank God. I hate shopping online.Still a few weeks away, at least, for me!
I shop online for very few things and it's mostly stuff thats very specific that won't be found at stores.
Come to think of it I shop for very few things overall. Liquor and ammo are probably the most consistent and expensive things I shop for. Other than that, if it isn't broke, ripped or worn out I don't replace it
The mall that's about 5 minutes away from me has been dying a slow death. It's sad that while they didn't have the best stores they were convenient. Now they mostly have kiosks, a place that sells CBD products, a nail salon and Boscovs plus a food court. But I agree it's frustrating. I bought scrubs online and the damn pants are a little long and it took 2 weeks for them to send it to me. And now I'm like F it I'll wear them cause I need them. I do enjoy buying things from Brownells on line though. But for everything else it sucksSo "The Mills" is dying? Haven't been there in years. Used to work there a long time ago
I don't even think they read what I wrote. They sent me a replacement and had me print out a label. I have to send the vinegar mat back so I won't pay for the replacement.
Did you do it through one of their chats with "support"? Always do it live. I don't think I've ever sent back something Amazon shipped me that arrived damaged or not correct. But I always go through the online chat support.
Phillygunguy
05-14-20, 09:24
So "The Mills" is dying? Haven't been there in years. Used to work there a long time ago
No I'm talking about Exton. I haven't been to the mills in a while.
KOP is the only place that has been active, at least before covid
The_War_Wagon
05-14-20, 09:53
This is why I like the Equipment Exchange. Maybe it didn't work for that guy, but at least I'm pretty sure of what I'm getting!
No I'm talking about Exton. I haven't been to the mills in a while.
KOP is the only place that has been active, at least before covidI remember all the big deal made about franklin mills when it first opened. It was quite a wonderland with indoor laser tag and other ambitious stuff but it seemed to be in a steady state of decline from the moment it opened. I use to live to go to the I.Goldbergs surplus store they had in there. It was right after the iron curtain fell and all the Eastern block stuff I only saw in grainy photos from Ian Hogg books was right there, in my size!...(not quite)
Most of my mall memories were from Montgomery Mall, havent been in there in years. It was so cool in the 80s with indoor trees, fountains and giant eagle scupltures and the giant central spiral ramp between the 2 floors.
While the others malls started to see decline in the 90s, KOP said "hold my beer!" ... and doubled itself in size and still some how manages to remain afloat. I haven't been there in ages either but I cant imagine it stumbling much just yet.
Sent from my SM-J727T using Tapatalk
For those of you in Pennsylvania, wasn't the 1978 George Romero film "Dawn of the Dead" filmed at some mall in your State? You know where they fly the helicopter to some mall and turn it into a fortress/refuge.
Diamondback
05-14-20, 21:42
For those of you in Pennsylvania, wasn't the 1978 George Romero film "Dawn of the Dead" filmed at some mall in your State? You know where they fly the helicopter to some mall and turn it into a fortress/refuge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroeville_Mall
For those of you in Pennsylvania, wasn't the 1978 George Romero film "Dawn of the Dead" filmed at some mall in your State? You know where they fly the helicopter to some mall and turn it into a fortress/refuge.
Much as I loved that film as a kid, I realized later as an adult that Romero was basically calling us all mindless zombies because we shopped at the mall. Somebody should have made a film where all the zombies sit in a theater and watch B movies before Romero died.
While he single handedly relaunched the zombie genre with Night of the Living Dead, he simply wasn't able to keep his politics out of his films, which made them suck. Everything was a commentary on the war, established society or consumerism. Never mind that consumerism is what allowed him to churn out his crappy movies which mostly sucked.
While some were great fun, most were stupid. Season of the Witch, The Crazies, The Amusement Park, Knightriders, Monkey Shines and every single film that came after the 80s were incredible stinkers. His tv show "Tales from the Darkside" which was a z budget ripoff of the Twilight Zone concept was actually better than most of his films and it was pretty bad sometimes. He also did a fanboy documentary on OJ Simpson in 1974 "O. J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose" which shows how bad his judgement really is or maybe he realized even then OJ was a POS just like Romero.
Besides the Night of the Living Dead trilogy, the only other Romero film that is interesting at all is Martin (1978) about a child vampire who may or may not actually be a vampire. But in Romero tradition, he started with an interesting idea and mostly just made a really weird movie that mostly came from being on drugs or required you to be on drugs to understand it. Other than that only Creepshow 1 & 2 didn't suck but that was built on the writing of Stephen King more than the direction or Romero.
Diamondback
05-14-20, 23:50
Much as I loved that film as a kid, I realized later as an adult that Romero was basically calling us all mindless zombies because we shopped at the mall. Somebody should have made a film where all the zombies sit in a theater and watch B movies before Romero died.
While he single handedly relaunched the zombie genre with Night of the Living Dead, he simply wasn't able to keep his politics out of his films, which made them suck. Everything was a commentary on the war, established society or consumerism. Never mind that consumerism is what allowed him to churn out his crappy movies which mostly sucked.
I dunno, the brain-eating zombies turned out to be a pretty apt parallel to the Night of the Living Brain-Dead in November 2008, with the various kinds of Gimmiedats who make up the Dems' Free Shit Army... not high art, not great entertainment, but more like an unintended, ironic training film.
I dunno, the brain-eating zombies turned out to be a pretty apt parallel to the Night of the Living Brain-Dead in November 2008, with the various kinds of Gimmiedats who make up the Dems' Free Shit Army... not high art, not great entertainment, but more like an unintended, ironic training film.
Pretty sure Romero was a Lt. Colonel in the FSA of 2008.
For those of you in Pennsylvania, wasn't the 1978 George Romero film "Dawn of the Dead" filmed at some mall in your State? You know where they fly the helicopter to some mall and turn it into a fortress/refuge.
And one of the few films with a Savage 99 in it.
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Savage_99
Diamondback
05-15-20, 10:08
Pretty sure Romero was a Lt. Colonel in the FSA of 2008.
Hence my saying "ironic," much like Alinsky's rules now being picked up by our side. :) No fan of the man or his movies myself; if I'm gonna give money to a Leftie for a movie it's gonna be one with talent like Spielberg.
Hence my saying "ironic," much like Alinsky's rules now being picked up by our side. :) No fan of the man or his movies myself; if I'm gonna give money to a Leftie for a movie it's gonna be one with talent like Spielberg.
The difference being Spielberg can "generally" manage to keep his politics out of his films because he is more interested in story telling. To me I can respect a man whose politics differ from mine if he can respect that mine differ from his. If you have the best pizza in town, I don't care if you voted for Obama and as long as you aren't forcing your politics on me I'm still going to buy your pizza.
If you have the best pizza in town, I don't care if you voted for Obama and as long as you aren't forcing your politics on me I'm still going to buy your pizza.
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