People watching should be a sport...

Don't I have just the cutest baby ever?? Kay, anyways. So, yesterday Mason and I took a little trip to the mall for something to do (and let's face it, I needed my soft pretzel fix!). I found him the blue hooded jacket (pictured) at Gap on clearance for $7.99!! Couldn't resist, because it's velour, it's adorable and it's getting a bit chilly willy around here, especially at night. So, back to my story. We were at the mall, and my favorite thing to do there (besides eating, of course!) is watch all the people that come out of the woodworks to shop at the mall. All I can think, is "it takes all kinds." There's nothing more entertaining than sitting in the food court and watching the happenings of other people. I saw two "tween (middle school agers)" girls giggling as they climbed into the little photo booth and took silly pictures of themselves. I remember doing that. It was so cool when the tiny sliver of smaller-than-wallet-size pictures slid out of the slot. I recall the big debate on which one of us would get which picture. Then there was the high schooler that walked by, wearing an attire that almost convinced me of time travel. Seriously, he looked like had been snatched out of the punk rock era of the 80's. He had a nice spiked 'do going, a leather jacket with the sleeves ripped off, covering a metal band t-shirt, skin tight black jeans and lace up army boots. Should I dig out my charm necklace and jelly bracelets? Weird. I saw some old men sitting in the food court drinking coffee and shooting the shit. Not a real surprise, knowing the demographic of this community. On my way in to the mall, I saw more Cadillacs, Buicks and Oldsmobiles than any other type of vehicle (aside from the gigantasaurus SUVs) . I saw the pimple-faced mid-puberty kid working at the Orange Julius, just trying to earn some extra cash on the weekends, to buy himself a sweet ride. And then there's the crew of the fast food Chinese place, in which not a single employee was Chinese or of Chinese decent. There was the humorous scene of a mother and daughter in Claire's, near the ear piercing station, where the daughter's ears were already pierced and she's dancing around near the necklace rack, and her mother is nervously discussing with one of the employess, where she should place the hole in her ear. And the most touching moment was when I was getting ready to head home, and I was sitting at a picnic table outside, enjoying the sunshine with Mason asleep in the stroller. A family was walking up to the doors and I noticed the little girl in the stroller had Down's Syndrome. Her mother was pushing the stroller, Grandma was opening the door, and what I can only assume was the aunt, was talking to the little girl and taking her hand as they went into the mall. They just made me smile. Those little moments where people think that no one is watching and they are just kind to each other without a hidden motive are the times when I greatly enjoy observing others. I guess that's what makes the world go round. How boring it would be if we were all the same. I certainly wouldn't frequent the mall as much as I do...