Mall Walking

walk distance marker
Originally uploaded by Martin LaBar.

My wife and I are mall walkers. As this article says, walking in a mall has several advantages, including safety, access to restrooms, and protection from the weather. (There are also disadvantages, such as access to food, hard surfaces, mind-numbing music, and having to drive several miles to get there.)

Most of us mall walkers are retired. Most of us don't move too fast. In spite of this, you can usually spot a fellow mall walker easily. Female mall walkers usually don't have purses/pocketbooks. Walkers head for an exit, but pivot and don't go out. Most walkers keep up a steady pace.

There are some vigorous and/or young mall walkers. Some walkers, some of them mall employees, walk on their lunch hour.

Mall walking has opened our eyes to some facets of human existence that we didn't know about. A substantial portion of mall walkers are handicapped in some way. We have seen people walking with walkers and Oxygen tanks. We have seen others that can't go very far before they have to sit down, and others that have to hold someone's hand while moving. We salute these brave souls, fighting against the ills of the flesh, usually losing, but fighting. Sometimes winning.

Merchants also seem to spot mall walkers easily. Those standing in the doorways and soliciting business usually ignore mall walkers. They tolerate us, even if we occasionally get in the way of real customers going between stores. They even make things convenient for us, as the photo above, taken in the Sunland Park Mall, El Paso, Texas, shows. Mall walkers are encouraged. Most malls open the outside doors early, to accomodate mall walkers before the stores open.

We also observe the merchants. Some of them we don't envy. Thank you, Lord, that I never had to sit or stand, hour after hour, waiting for the rare person who was interested in my merchandise! Thank you, also, that I'm able to walk.

Thanks for reading. My next post is on walking in the Bible.