As Bad as I thought....

I have been avoiding the follow-up on the NYT because it was bad- without a picture and no personal quotes, but I feel I owe everyone the chance to make their own judgement- it was in last Sunday's paper and can be found on-line entitled something about Our Love Affair with the Mall being on the Rocks? It was a long article, so I am stepping on toes with some cut and paste, but don't tell anyone important please: (My side-bars are in bold italics)

Here, for instance, are six women from St. Cloud, Minn., waiting for a table outside Ruby Tuesday. They have come for their eighth annual weekend trip to the Mall of America. Four of them are sisters and two are women who married into the sisters’ family, and happen to be sisters, too. (yes, also known as Stearns County syndrome)

“Can you guess who the four sisters are?” one asks. (We can, but by dumb luck.) (that was me)

They are all splitting a single suite at a hotel, which will cost each of them a mere $16 a night. As they do the math, it’s clear that an unofficial competition is under way for the title of Least Extravagant Shopper.

“I got this for $25,” says Shannon McDonnel, draping a leopard-pattern scarf around her neck. “From Macy’s. On sale.”

“That’s not a sale item!” a sister shouts. (that would be my blood sister)

“It is a sale. It was originally $40. No wait, it was originally $34. So that’s a sale.”

“I spent $36 and got eight items,” says Kyna Reiter. “All of them from Garage, a store I’d never heard of, but it was a great store.”

“I got a dress from Ann Taylor for $5,” says Meaghan Banes. She also has a burrito from Chipotle in her hands, which she will take into Ruby Tuesday, which means she’ll spend less than everyone else on lunch. So she wins. (I did put in a request to have her not actually enjoy it in the restaurant)

Each of the six women is in a defensive spending crouch for a different reason.

One woman’s husband hauls new cars, which means he’s on the verge of being laid off. Another’s husband is training to be a police officer, which means he isn’t earning anything now. The couple have been trying to sell their house for a year, hoping that they can downsize to a smaller home, in the $100,000 range. But so far, no one has even asked to see the house twice, let alone made an offer.

“Have you buried a statuette of St. Joseph in the yard?” Ms. McDonnel asks. (The statue is supposed to bring good luck.) (I really asked this)

“A year ago,” Ms. Reiter says. “We buried St. Joseph a year ago.”

The black disc that Ruby Tuesday gave them is now blinking and making noise. Their table’s ready.

“Maybe you should bury St. Jude,” Ms. McDonnel says, heading into the restaurant.

St. Jude?

“He’s the saint of lost causes.”

IF we were actually in couples therapy with the mall, we’d have to confess to something: We have changed, not the mall.

So, what do you think? What do you think the New Yorkers think? hmm hmm hmm Fun none the less and will totally do it again!