The Mega-Mall

After taking our leave of the Minneapolis airport, the afternoon was still young so we motored ten minutes west on I-494 to the Mall of America, dubbed the "The Mega-Mall" by my husband's relatives who live in the Twin Cities. A massive shrine to American materialism is what it is, though I must admit I find it pleasant to get lost in the crowd there, wandering around, watching and listening to people.

The scenes above and below overlook the mall's center which is an amusement park complete with rides and games and color, color everywhere. There's even foliage to be seen......I think its fake, but can't remember for sure and did not walk through the center yesterday to find out.

My goal was not to shop, but to walk completely around each of the three main levels. Sounds simple enough, but it takes a couple of hours at best and turned out to be more of a challenge than usual yesterday due to huge, slow-moving crowds of people who commandeered nearly every walkway. Wow......seemingly not much evidence of a recession going on, although I noticed there are more clearance-type stores cropping up---Nordstrom's Rack and Marshall's being two---and that's where throngs of shoppers congregated. The lengthy check-out lines discouraged me from browsing very closely there, running the risk of finding an item I simply had to purchase.

There seems to be more food court areas than in the past and lots and lots of seating provided. One food court strip contained DQ, Arby's, BK, a pizza outlet, a Greek sandwich place, Chinese stir-fry, and Italian pasta offerings......anything your hungry heart might desire. Of course, there are many regular restaurants spaced here and there throughout the Mall, too. In the past, I have eaten at The Rain Forest Cafe and Twin Cities Grill. Should you run low on caffeine, there are Starbuck's and Caribou Coffee shops lurking around almost every corner, it seems, not to mention chocolate shops to tempt you, too. I must confess to buying a book at Barnes & Noble, a clearance sweater at Old Navy, and a 3/4-sleeve tee at a Minnesota souvenir shop.

While meandering, I kept close watch on the time displayed on my cell phone, waiting for 3:10 p.m. which was the departure time for my daughter's plane bound for Amsterdam. This is the truth......at 3:08 p.m. I happened to walk by this memorial sculpture which I'd never noticed before. It is a tribute to Thomas Burnett, one of the leaders of the heroic passenger uprising on Flight 93 on that infamous day of 9/11/01. Thomas Burnett grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota, home of the Mall of America.

"The open door in this piece reflects the cockpit door of Flight 93. It also represents a door to a brighter, safer future. Never forget the victims of 9/11 and walk confidently toward the future intent on 'doing something'......something good, something kind, something noble, and something right."

There I stood amidst the throngs of mall browsers, reading this memorial plaque as my daughter's plane was preparing to take off a few miles away. You better believe I was sending out concerned thoughts and fervent prayers. It seemed to be the only "something" I could do in that particular moment.
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