My Trip to Mall

A Trip to the Mall

The mall- a place where people shops, eat, hang out and just have fun. That is, everybody, but me! One cold winter night in November 1995, my friend Zack and I decided to go to Woodfield Mall. This was my first year in the United States and I had never been to a mall. Zack was 16 years old and I was 17. We were not old enough to drive a car so we used to ride our bikes everywhere or get a ride from our parents. With very little money in our pockets and no ride to the mall, we asked Zack’s dad to drop us off and pick us up at nine o' clock. He agreed, but told us to be ready at nine sharp or else he would leave us there.

It was winter time and it was snowing outside. The temperature was in the single digits, and the wind chill was below zero. As we entered the mall, my jaw dropped. This was by far the largest shopping place I had ever seen in my life. There were so many stores, so many people, and it was just enormous. It was quite noisy inside but it all just seemed amazing to me. Everyone there was dressed so properly, since it was about Christmas time. The mall was packed and there were kids running all around the place. There was a big line at the center of the mall, filled with parents and their kids. Later, I found out that the line was formed for the kids that wanted to get their picture taken with Santa Claus. We went from store to store, and within an hour or so, I felt tired. So we decided to go into McDonald’s to eat. At first, the McDonald’s seemed to be very small compared to the one that was near where I lived. I realized afterwards that I was just standing by the entrance, which only consisted of desert items. As we walked further inside the store, it turned out to be quite large. Now when I reflect back on the place, it seems funny to me because it does not seem as immense as it did that day. Soon enough, it was the time for us to head home.

As directed, Zack and I walked outside the mall to the place where we were supposed to wait for his dad. It was very cold, so I told Zack that we should take turns to wait for his dad. I asked him to wait by himself for a little bit and then to come inside the building, so I could go outside. As soon as I entered the building, however, Zack came in right behind me, telling me that it was too cold outside. So we decided to just wait by the door. Time passed by slowly and there was no sign of Zack's dad. It was around 10:30 pm when a security guard walked up to us and asked us what we were still doing there? We told him that we were waiting for our ride to pick us up. He responded by telling us that the curfew was about to start and that if we were to stick around that place for longer, we could get in trouble. After he left, we collected some change from both of our pockets and called Zack's house to find out what was taking so long. When we called his house, his mom picked up and told us that his dad came to pick us up, but he did not see us, so he came back like he said he would. We asked her to tell him to pick us up one more time and that we would stay outside once again. Unfortunately, she replied by telling us that he was not at home because he went to pick up Zack's aunt from her work.