A VERY interesting visit at the mall

What a crazy day it was today. I went with my bio-mom to the Holyoke Mall as a surprise that was ruined when we picked her up at work when a co-worker unwillingly told us "have a good time at the mall" without realizing it (was) a surprise. We went to the mall at 12:30pm and first stopped at JCPenney, which took close to, if not more than, an hour, a very long stop, considering the mall is only open from 11am-5pm on Sundays. Afterwards, we went to Best Buy to get Barrie a new computer (and so I could browse around) for when I want to get a new computer for college and gaming, which hopefully will happen before fall 2022. But let me tell you, Best Buy is HELLA expensive and kind of a ripoff, as their prices are WAY ABOVE Amazon's prices. For example, the worker at Best Buy told me if I wanted a good computer to school and play Minecraft with shaders and mods on (LOTS of mods), he recommended a i5 with 16GB of RAM and a 3060 graphics card at $1,350 as a limited time offer at Best Buy, but I found the same thing, even better at Amazon for only $1,100 ($950 + $150 4-year protection) with a i5, 32GB of RAM and a GTX 1650 built for gaming; I don't know HOW I'll get that money, but I hope to get it before fall, probably by attending Zoom meetings (I currently have gotten $15 off of Zoom meetings and $15 more is on the way, and I get about $40 per month of sessions, because now you get PAID to attend HEROES' sessions 😱🤑), high school graduation presents in the early summer, the lottery (which may and probably WILL NOT work, I'll stick with $1 (maybe $2s but no more) scratch-offs and only play once a month to stay addiction-free; if you have a problem gambling, call 1-800-327-5050 in MA and 1-800-GAMBLER and request to be temporarily banned from casinos) and maybe even a summer job if I absolutely have to. After going to Best Buy, we then ate at 110 Grill, but Barrie and Mom had subpar experiences, despite mine being a rather good one; I offered my well prepared food to them, but they both politely declined. Based on experience, Hadley MA appears to be a better location than Holyoke MA in the mall, including my experience. After that, we went back to Macy's before I had to use the bathroom. Afterwards, I went back to the bench in the mall outside Macy's on the lower level (1st floor) to wait for Barrie with Mom, and that's when the weird shit started...

Around 4pm, right after sitting down in the bench, I heard running in the mall. (Little kids?) When it got closer and I heard talking, I thought "maybe it's just siblings chasing each other in the mall?" but immediately, I saw police interaction and chasing and as they got RIGHT DAMN NEAR CLOSE TO US, I immediately was like "OH SHIT..." Thank GOD it happened so quickly, and that also there were no audible shots being fired, so it wasn't a VIOLENT incident as far as I know. Afterwards, we were both in shock, and I barely wanted to shop anymore, but I still went into Forever 21 and Theory (a skateboarding/snowboarding store) to look for some sneakers that I really wanted (Chucks/AF1s/Others) but by this point, it was 4:30pm and the mall was getting close to shuttering for the night (as of January 2022, the mall hours are M-Sa 11am-7pm and Su 11am-5pm; normal hours are M-Sa 10am-9:30pm and Su 12pm-6pm) and after a (most likely record for me) 4 HOURS at the mall (ALMOST THE ENTIRE OPERATING DAY; from 12:30pm-4:30pm ish), it was time to go home. Minus the semi-shocking incident and add in a trip to Round1 and/or Altitude Trampoline Park, it would've been the DREAM DAY for me!

If I could operate the mall ANY TIME I WANTED and had as much money to spend as I wanted (and got rid of COVID restrictions/business closures/mask requirements), here would be my preferred schedule of events for a day's worth of fun.

10am: Arrival at the mall

10am-12pm: Morning shopping; Best Buy/Foot Locker/Journeys/Theory/Captain Candy/Hollister/Aeropostale/MANY others

12pm-1pm: Lunch downstairs at EA Teriyaki (formerly Shoyu Japan) with plain lo mein with chicken, extra chicken, and heavy on the sauce

(Fun fact: since I'm gluten free, and that there is a 99% chance that that is NOT gluten free, I'm not even supposed to eat there! But every time I eat there, for some reason, I NEVER get sick like I should for eating gluten like that; my first reaction was around early 2015 at Subway/Dynasty Gourmet in Easthampton MA and THAT was not a fun day... So, I still take my chances and it usually works out)

1pm-2pm: Easy early afternoon mall walking and shopping at various stores

2pm-4:30pm: Break, afternoon joyride outside of the mall; 6 hours is a LOT at once...

4:30pm-6pm: Dinner at 110 Grill (plain cheeseburger, medium well, american cheese with sweet potato fries and gluten free bread & butter with a diet Coke and maybe a gluten free "oreo" brownie sundae or a gluten free flourless chocolate cake for dessert.

6pm-8pm: Altitude Trampoline Park for VR games, a small arcade, and OBVIOUSLY jumping around and going into foam pits

8pm-12am: Round 1 bowling, arcade, pool, and more

Maybe a midnight joyride between 12am and 1 or 2am

That would be preferred. Absolutely.

What. A. Day.

Anyways, thanks for reading this post and my blog!

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