Artificial Prosperity

Ornament-studded plastic Christmas garlands hung overhead as I strolled the mall this afternoon.  Some of the artificial holiday do-dads seemed especially excessive, as if desperately attempting to fabricate a festive mood (and encourage spending) well in advance of the season. 

I noticed people as I walked.  A blank-faced sales clerk in a temporary booth robotically shoved chunks of deep-fried food from a Styrofoam clamshell box into his mouth.  A bent-over mother plodded along as if encumbered by transparent chains, pushing a stroller holding a screaming, thrashing toddler.  An limping older man with a cane struggled to keep up with a seemingly impatient female companion.

Bass-intense music with an addictive beat blared from a certain store.  As I approached, a hard-faced woman wearing black lace hosiery and a tight black skirt rushed out its door tapping her high-heeled shoes with staccato precision.  She could have been in her 40’s, although her appearance mimicked someone much younger. A rough-looking teenaged boy with long greasy hair leaned against the storefront’s window featuring oversized pictures of sultry-looking, scantily-dressed females.  He half-stared and half-scowled at the woman as she clipped along with her large bag of purchases.

PVC Christmas trees wearing fake snow stood like icons of superficiality encircled by a low white picket fence made of plastic.   Every jam-packed store boasted incentives: two-for-one, half-price, everything in the store on sale.  A few clerks, trained in relational etiquette, offered assistance through Cheshire-cat smiles. Many shoppers seemed not to notice or care about any of this, but appeared to be preoccupied and disconnected.

I left the mall feeling shell-shocked, as if temporarily swallowed up by a façade of well-practiced consumerism.  Although appearances painted a picture of abundance and prosperity, a certain hollow quality - perhaps numbness - infused the mall today.