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Saturday, September 30, 2017

Alienation

by Monreale

I went over to the local mall this Friday afternoon.  Although it's only 10 minutes away, I hadn't been there in a long time. I bought new glasses from Costco and they needed fitting. I figured Lenscrafters would do a better job than Costco, and they did.

For those who don't know it, this mall is big. Anchored by Macy's, Sears and Penny's, it has some 170 stores and restaurants.

After the fitting, I went for a walk. My conscience (and my oldest daughter) has been after me to walk more so I set out to walk the length of the mall, both levels.

What I saw was a revelation. Some 80 to 90 % of the shoppers looked peculiar to me. Every conceivable ethnicity, language and, of course, race seemed to be represented. Even though I'm not one myself I was hoping to see a few WASPS. Somehow, that would have reassured me.

The clothing worn was to me odd. It's 85 degrees in California today. Why did some people wear long coats? To balance that, I suppose, some wore next to nothing. The jeans wearers were obviously competing as to whose jeans could stay up while having the most holes. Over large farmer's overalls were seen next to slinky, skin-tight dresses and slacks. There seemed to be no attempt to wear compatible colors--it was color chaos. Shoes competed with sandals competed with a kind of slipper sox and even bare feet.

Then there was the "body adornment." Piercings everywhere. Eyebrows, noses, cheeks, lips, tongues, backs of the neck. Earlobes punctured with big, round black objects, sometimes with strange devices hanging from them. Tattoos covering one arm, covering both arms, one leg, both legs, on necks edging up to the face. Striking configurations of facial hair--tufts, forests and everything in between. Heads shaved, partly shaved, shaved on top with ringlets hanging down on the sides, big bubble afros, dreadlocks.

It seemed to me that I had suddenly been transported to a kind of alien colony. And then it hit me. I was the alien.