My Trip To The Christiana Mall
A week ago, my fellow blogger Dominique dared me to go to the mall on a Friday night. Today, I took her up on it, sort of. I arrived at about 5:15 and walked around for close to an hour.
There were a number of people that I would be scared to run into in a dark alley, but almost all of them would be excluded by the policy because they were older than 17. In fact, I was hard-pressed to find any significant number of teenagers that would be effected by the new policy. And any that I saw were in groups of 4 or less, so no packs of animals, as Dom had suggested.
I took the opportunity to talk to some of the people that work there. Overall, the security guards were pretty much “Talk to the Mall,” but one told me that things weren’t really that bad at the mall. I asked why they were implementing the new policy then. The guard indicated that it was a management decision. I am a little concerned for that guard’s job, because it can’t be too hard to narrow down who it was that spoke to me. There appeared to only be 4 guards on duty.
I then spoke to someone at a food court establishment. I asked her what she thought the impact would be on business for her place. She told me that they would likely be hurt by the change, as one of the things that the kids did buy was food. “Have you ever seen bad things happen here?” “Well, there was a food fight here 6 months ago, but other than that, not really.”
OK, so I went over to the Apple Store, which had about 30 people working to serve 7 customers. Everyone was pleasant. I struck up a conversation with one of the people there and asked if they thought they would be impacted. She was unsure, but she didn’t think weekends were too bad. I gotta get me a new iPhone, BTW.
I then stopped to see how a slightly more upscale place thought about this. I stopped at one of the kiosk jewelry stores and struck up a conversation with two of the employees. One of them was very open and told me that the mall was really just being cheap. He sees a security guard pass by every 45 minutes. If they had more guards, or some police presence, things wouldn’t be unpleasant at all. The other employee told me of a time that a group of kids raced through the mall yelling and running at top speed, bearing down on her. Shopkeepers started closing their gates. “But that was just that one time.”
I pressed her for more info, because she seemed to have a good deal of Friday and Saturday experience. She said that one big issue was that kids would walk through the mall shouting obscenities and invariably a Mother would exclaim that this is why she swore that she wouldn’t come to the mall on the weekend anymore. I asked why they didn’t just toss out the kid shouting the obscenities. Sometimes they did, but it was rare, and there wasn’t enough security to keep them from coming back.
Her co-worker reiterated that if they had guards coming down the mall every 5 minutes or so, these problems would be gone. But there was no way that the mall would hire more guards, that costs money. The other employee nodded in agreement.
I tried to hit up another guard to her their view, but was directed to the mall office behind Arby’s. But by the time I got there, they were closed. They actually close at 5PM. I wonder if they will stay late on the 11th.
So I decided that I would hit the road and get to Costco, which was my cover with Mrs. Geek. As I approached the JC Penny court, I ended up behind a 15 year old African-American Male, who started shouting, “I got a big dick, all the girls wanna deep throat it” or something like that. I looked around, but there was no security as the kid walked out the door of the mall.
I was reminded of a quote from my hero Hunter S. Thompson, “The weakest link in any civil rights case is usually the defendant.”(Generation of Swine)
I plan to go back to see what this policy means to the mall and how it is implemented (will they be kicked out of JC Penny’s, or stopped as they leave the big stores?). Hopefully, I’ll get some video next time and perhaps talk to mall management. Also, let me say that I know that 5PM is not the height of the Friday night scene. It is pretty much the only time I could get over there.
Tags: Christiana Mall
The quote sure was interesting…
I was secretly afraid that I would run from the mall screaming, “Kick them all out!” But alas, it wasn’t to be.
The thing is though, it has always been this way. Rowdy kids on a Friday and Saturday night at the Mall? What is true in 2008 was true in the 90’s and in the 80’s. Hell, I think I was one of those kids back in the late 80’s/early 90’s having a food fight in the food court.
Maybe it is worse, because, unlike you Geek, I haven’t been to the Mall recently (I actually think I avoided it this past Christmas).
Please, it’s not even dark at 5:00. You need to be there at about 9:00 to get a real feel for it. I probably should have told you that. When I was there, I saw quite a few police officers and security guards.
I’d be interested to know the approximate ages of the sales people you interviewed. I would also be interested to know what their sales volume is on Friday nights compared to other nights of the week.
All I know is that I only had to experience it a couple of times to know that I wanted absolutely no parts of it. I never went back on a Friday night again and I’m a serious spender (not like the food-court dwellers). I stand by my original point of view.
I think I conceded that 5PM isn’t the ideal time to go. And I didn’t ask you to change your view. But the ages of the people I interviewed were about 17-60. Three of the interview subjects were older than you and me, Dom.
Dear liberalgeek,
I assume you couldn’t transpose that interview tape reference the wind debate. Can we arrange to get together so I can retrieve it for my personal archives?
John Kowalko
Hi JK – Still looking for the right equipment. I’ll keep beating the bushes for the right stuff and if I cannot find it, I’ll get you back the original at your fundraiser. Deal?
Great blogging geek.
Does anyone think that walking through the mall and asking “Are you 18?”, “Are you 18?”, “Are you 18?”, might be misconstrued?
Mr Geek wrote:
I find this an interesting statement from someone styling himself the liberalgeek. Is this a statement that a liberal is judging — dare I say prejudging? — people based upon their physical appearance?
This, I think, nees expansion. Who were the people of whom you’d have felt fear had you met them in an unsafe place? Were they bikers in their club colors, were they Negroes in black hoodies, were they white sorority girls carrying lethal-looking purses, were they goth teens wearing spiked dog collars and purple hair? Perhaps, all being older than seventeen, you meant senior citizens in pastel walking shorts, blue hair, and a fierce determination to defend themselves from young whippersnappers?
They were typical white people. Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby out shopping for loungewear.
Thanks for taking the bullet, LG. I avoid the Christiana Mall at all cost, and it has nothing to do with teenagers. The Mall layout, IMO, is poorly designed and not user-friendly.
It can be alittle overwhelming with all the activity at the mall. It is not the prom!! I was recently in the mall with my husband and very young daughter and was greeted at the door by security with a card on conduct. When we were there (Friday night) there was lots of security. I thought they were alittle harsh on kids not doing anything. (DID I mention I was not all the comfortable). We were told by retail staff of one store never to park in the food court parking and please don’t leave by that door at night. I don’t know all the trouble they have had there, but I won’t go at night on the weekend again. It is my choice because I wasn’t comfortable. OH I need to mention, I was there during a weekday in the early afternoon and a woman was there making loud threats and security (and state police) had her surrounded. I was told by one store to stay in the back and if needed could leave by the emergency exit. So its not just the weekend evenings and she was well over 17.
What a typical conservative comment, Dana. First you invent the way libruls supposedly feel, then you attack it. Does your hand ever give out from such furious masturbation, or are you ambidextrous?
Nice post LG. To me isn’t the mall just a condensed version of the clown show we live in? There are people walking the streets of downtown Wilmington one would avoid, just as there are people walking the mall you would want to avoid. Dom, I love ya, but “I’m a serious spender?” Cmmmmooon…I know if I wanted to spend some money at the Apple store or a number of other businesses of which I had to travel to, I would not let any mall rat or riff raff or scallywayg keep me from purchasing some hard earned goodies. Don’t be so jaded or you’ll turn into the mean cat lady.
Dear Liberalgeek,
Thank you sir you are a gentleman and a scholar. Looking forward to seeing you.
John K.
Mr Mascitti wrote:
I invented nothing here; Mr Geek told us that there were people he saw at the mall of whom he would be afraid if he encountered them in an unsafe area; I wanted to know just who — or dare I say, what kind of people — he encountered that led to such a reaction. Mr Geek tried to blow it off with a crack about Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby, but I think it’s a valid question.
After all, unless he recognized individual people who engendered such reaction from him from Wilmington’s Most Wanted, he was talking about particular groups of people rather than individuals.
As I have said over at my place, I think Mr. Geek is missing the point.
It’s not the mall’s or mall security’s job to supervise other persons’ minor children.
When I had minor children, I refused to take them to the mall and drop them off, despite their requests, for all the peace and quiet it might have gotten me. I did not want them to become mallies.
And, ya know what, they grew up okay.
Well, almost okay.
“Is this a statement that a liberal is judging — dare I say prejudging? — people based upon their physical appearance?”
That’s what you said, Dana. You took a statement from one person and pretended there’s a “librul handbook” out there in which it says nobody who considers himself a liberal can ever pre-judge anyone based on physical appearance.
You, on the other hand, are an asshole not because you’re a conservative. I think it more likely you’re a conservative because you’re an asshole.
By the way, don’t think I simply don’t like conservatives. I have more conservative friends than liberal ones. I save judgment like that for the kind, like you, who have nothing to add to the conversation. You’re a troll. You have never added anything I’ve ever read on this blog to any discussion of issues, particularly local ones — but you have lots of points that ape those made by the “deep thinkers” of your “movement.” You don’t give your age, but I’m guessing you’re just another little wanker who grew up under Reagan and hasn’t been alive long enough, or is too busy bitching about his taxes, to realize what his “deep thinking” brings about in the world.
Nobody here, to my knowledge, trolls your little echo chamber; don’t come here to move your bowels, er, I mean, give us the benefit of your wisdom.
And don’t call me Mr. anything. I’m not one of your conservative friends, so you have nothing to gain by pretending to respect me. Brown your nose on someone who cares.
Boys, boys, boys. Simmer down and play nice, please.
Call It – I would be the mean lady with dogs, not cats. That’s beside the point, though. As a woman, I am probably slightly more easily intimidated by packs of creepy and/or loud teenagers than the average male. It’s not just about the unpleasantness inside the mall, it’s also about the walk back to my car. If that makes me mean or paranoid or cranky or crusty or all of the above, so be it. I’ll stick with Amazon or Ebay, thank you very much. If it’s something I have to purchase in person, I’ll hit the mall on Sunday afternoon or one of the quieter weeknights. Life is simply too short for bad shopping experiences.
Hey, don’t scold Dana. I’m the only one not playing nice. I don’t play nice with trolls.