Labor Day. I spent the day sitting around. My girlfriend came over in the afternoon, so we went to the mall and sat around there, reading and watching people with all of their funny little antics. We noticed a Muslim woman selling Mrs. Fields cookies and I thought about how historically significant that is. She was dressed in a flowing dress with a black shawl covering her head like an astronaut without his globular helmet, as she reached out and cleared away old chocolate chip cookies. A dad passing with his little girl stopped to buy some of the other cookies and besides the shawl, nothing separated them; it was a free market economy moment. No vendettas or suspicions, or even accusations thrown at the little girl dressed in shorts and a tank top. Just cookies for money.
Sometimes I wonder what our ancestors would have thought of us today, had they been able to foresee it all, no explanations; would they have thought of malls as worship centers, all of us pouring our little offerings like tokens of our gratitude to Nike, Verizon and AMC theaters? Perhaps they would be so dizzied by all the bright lights and flashy messages which bombard us daily, but of which we have become completely oblivious for the sake of our own survival; all those hungry bodies on their crazy trajectories throughout the free market of our small gods, our 21st century idols.
Shopping is religious.