Yesterday Lori and I headed out for some Christmas shopping and during the course of the day we didn’t realize that we would encounter would seem like two different Worlds. First off we drove down to Cherry Creek which is an affluent shopping center of sorts with Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and so on. We valet parked and headed in to a crowded but orderly and polite mass of people. Everyone was so nice, even though you could tell people were rushed. After a good hour plus we loaded up and headed out for some lunch.
Next stop was Colorado Mills, a mega mall out by us, for some wrapping paper at Target and a few last minute toys for the boys. We turned into the mall and bam, it was gridlock. We’d never seen so many cars clogging up every single road within the mall. We knew right away we had to get out of there. There was a noticeable difference between the people, both in cars and on foot. In cars, no one would let anyone else in. It’s as if they were all purposely nudging their car ahead in the roundabouts and not making eye contact so other cars could’t get in. The people walking in and out of the mall looked like they were all on welfare or just came out of the DMV. It took us a good 15 minutes just to work our way in so we could turn around and then another 15 plus to try to get out. Mind you, we didn’t even get out of our car. This was just us trying to get out of the mess in the parking lot. I made a few advanced moves and worked my way up to the movie theater and using my best italian driving skills, cut in here and there to get out or we might still be there! When we finally were making our way down the street we drove in on we looked up and saw a truck we were behind (before I took charge) that hadn’t moved an inch.
Now some might say that this mall was just more crowded but proportionally for the number of stores, the number of cars and people seemed the same. What was different was the behavior of the people and surely this directly coincided with the income level of the people. No two ways about it. The more affluent were more polite, nicer and more orderly while the welfare crowd was (and sorry to stereotype but stereotypes come from somewhere) was rude, out of shape, (yes there were lots of fat people), poorly dressed (you can still be poor and take pride in what you wear!) and overall seemed angry. You could definitely tell there was also a difference in the education of each group of people.
So this was like a big sociology study on people. I know there were educated people in the Mills crowd and uneducated in the affluent but the majority of each was as described. We’ve always had this in society but what was noticeable this year was just how much more the divide was. I’m not one for socialism or income equality (forced or distributed by the govt) but it was right there in front of your face and undeniable. The second crowd was also more of a dangerous place to be, you could just feel it. Anyhow rather than focusing on the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer, I think we need to focus on the root of why, which seems on the surface to be education and second but not as obvious, having a strong 2 parent family unit. It was sad to see but from a parents standpoint, you want to make sure your kids are in the first group! This means a good education and trying to hang with the right people. Too many kids these days (and you can even see it now in the boys schools) are already going one way or another, mostly based on the environment or family unit that they come from. That’s why being a good parent is so important.
Today, we’re going to spend a little money we don’t really have, and make sandwiches for the homeless people and take them downtown and hand them out. Up first is some phone calls for me and work for Lori. Ty spent the night at the infamous Vinny’s, and Lori and I wrapped some presents. Aunt Robi, you need to watch for a couple of things arriving Wednesday and so do Dixie and Don. Annette, yours is coming after Christmas as Lori says you’re in Seattle.
Time to run, hope all’s well, take care and God Bless.