2 Mall crawlers
Sarah W., 14
We got to the mall at about 1 p.m. on a cold windy Sunday — a perfect day to shop.
FAO SCHWEETZ: Everything was pretty cool. Just a lot of sweet candy and salespeople with a sweet attitude. We splurged here on bubble gum and sour stuff, and left chomping on our purchases.
FAO SCHWARZ: This store seemed to be full of little kids, parents and salespeople smiling every second. Nobody paid much attention to me, because the salespeople were busy and the customers — namely all those little kids running around like crazy — had stuff to keep them busy. It was a fun stop.
THE DISCOVERY STORE: I went to a rack of tapes that had nature sounds, and a salesman was staring at me. It seems like everywhere I went in this store, he only had eyes for me. I figured he wasn’t staring at me because I was too cute to resist. It definitely gave me the creeps.
CARLTON CARDS: This was a yawn. Nothing out of the ordinary here, including the merchandise: cards and snow domes.
BROOKSTONE: Cool stuff at this gadget shop, and it was a blast to check out the massage chairs and electronic chess and checker games. The salespeople didn’t mind when we gave everything the once over, but when my friend sat down on the massage chair, a young saleswoman — she was about 20 — told him to get off immediately. I admit it, the chair did have a sign on the back, pretty much covered, saying that you had to be 18 or over to use it. But I’ve been in this same store in other malls and nobody pays attention to that sign. Kids are always crawling all over this chair. Then I sat down on the chair — and she walked right by me and looked straight at me.
Will M., 14
FAO SCHWEETZ: We cruised the store for a good 15 minutes, looked at all the delicious candy — and bought some. But after about five minutes, a customer started giving me the eye, staring at me up and down. I thought I looked normal; my hat was off and my coat was open. But everywhere I went he kept looking at me, instead of watching his kid.
FAO SCHWARZ: The same customer was looking at me again! I don’t think he followed me or anything, but I wish he had paid attention to his own kid instead of me. Eventually he did stop, and I felt relieved. So I was able to check out the toys without feeling like someone was watching every move I made.
THE DISCOVERY STORE: This was filled with cool stuff. But I was tired and my feet hurt, so I decided to sit down in a sample rocking chair in the back of the store. A clerk in his 20s gave me a very mean look. I split really fast, leaving my friend behind. She caught up with me at the card store.
CARLTON CARDS: Typical card store, and a typical clerk who had other things on her mind. She didn’t even notice us or know we were alive. We took a quick look around and left.
BROOKSTONE: By the time we got here, we’d been walking around for about an hour and a half, so the massage chair looked pretty good to me. I sat down and pushed the button to get a massage, and it was cool. It felt like a guy pounding on your back, just like in the Doritos commercial. But it didn’t last long — after a minute or so a saleswoman came running over and said I had to be 18 to use it. But my friend couldn’t resist and tried it next, and nothing happened to her. In fact, the same saleswoman walked by, looked her right in the eye and kept going.
You’re being watched: How many security guards are there at your local mall? (Imagine if they got cloned!)
