it's a hard knock life

Shopping is my break from the real world. It’s the one activity that I like to do alone. I thoroughly enjoy walking around by myself and not having to think about anything other than which store window I like the most. I find it very relaxing. I’ve been told more than once that I am an "emotional shopper." As much as I’d like to disagree with that statement I just can’t. Now I don’t necessarily spend money during my shopping excursions but sometimes doing so makes me feel that much better.

I had a few long and hard days last week. I needed to relax. So one evening as I was driving home I found myself heading to the mall instead. Usually when I go to the mall by myself I park in the same general vicinity. I have trouble remembering where I park so having a usual spot is pretty important. This time, however, I stupidly parked elsewhere. Can you tell where this story is heading?

I was on my cell phone with a friend I haven’t talked to in ages as I pulled into the parking spot. I wasn’t paying attention to much and barely remembered to lock my car before walking away from it. It was dusk so there was still some light outside. After window shopping for awhile (no money exchanged hands during this trip) I decided I had relaxed enough to go home. Where did I park? I couldn’t remember. I retraced my steps in my mind and finally figured out which mall entrance I had entered in just an hour and a half before. That was only half the battle. I had no idea where my car was! It was dark outside by this point and things look a lot different in the dark. I walked up and down every aisle. No luck. I started to panic and look around for mall security. Surely they could help me! I racked my brain for a description of my car. I wasn’t sure if “black with four doors” would be enough for them to successfully locate my vehicle. Questions were running through my head…make, model and year? License plate number? I should really have this information written down somewhere.

Clearly I was going to look like an idiot asking mall security for help with this matter. They were nowhere to be found anyway. What good are they if they’re not around when you need them? Needless to say I eventually found my car. I spent as much time in the parking lot as I had spent inside the mall. Any relaxing that took place during my shopping excursion had been useless. Losing my car made me tense up all over again. I may have to find another happy place to go when I need to de-stress. Somewhere with a smaller parking lot perhaps.