Today I went Christmas shopping. I decided to go to Tyson’s I shopping mall, and I drove all the way down Route 7. The traffic was fairly slow, so I had time to think about my environmental surroundings and how they have changed over the years. I’ve lived in this area long enough to have witnessed farm land being transformed into a highly populous urban area. My family attended a church in the 7-Corners area of Falls Church, and the older man, who had sold the farm land that is now the Tyson’s development, attended our church.
When I was growing up I shopped at Tyson’s I. This was before there were multi-deck parking garages and before the mall was expanded, and long before Tyson’s II was even a dream. As a matter of fact, my family regularly ate at Hot Shoppes cafeteria after church on Sundays. It was one of the few restaurants inside the mall.
Today when I stood in the outside parking area of Tyson’s I and looked around me, I had a feeling of surrealism sweep over me. The office building directly across the road looked like it had been constructed with a toy erector set. It was so shiny and new looking. I even wondered if real people worked there. Though from my experience of cars and trucks on the road and all the people inside the mall, I was convinced it must be real.
As I was conversing with a young black man at the Footlocker shoe store, I heard myself saying that even middle-aged white women are stereotyped. Then I wondered if I was even considered middle-aged anymore since I’ll be 59 years old in about 2 months.
Before my conversation at the shoe store, I had gone looking for the Disney store. My daughter has been asking for an Elsa doll for a couple years now. I kept telling her she was too old for dolls. This year I’ve decided it doesn’t matter. So, at the age of 27 she will getting a gift doll set of Elsa and her sister Anna.
While in the store, I looked through the Star Wars merchandise. I have very recently seen their latest movie. There was a nice white and black Storm Trooper sweater tunic. I tried it on and it fit, and I thought it would look good with black leggings. I laughed as I purchased it for myself. I just needed the perfect shoes to go with the outfit.
This is how I ended up at the Footlocker shoe store. I purchased the smallest men’s size in a Timberland black leather slip on ankle boot. They looked to me like they could pass for Storm Trooper boots. They were very comfortable and they had no women’s shoes anything like them.
I showed the young man who had been helping me my new sweater. He loved it and he agreed I had picked out the perfect boots to match.
So, this Christmas both my daughter and I will be defying the normal expectations for our ages. Fortunately, I can get away with wearing this since I work at a middle school. I can imagine it will spark a conversation or two with some of the young boys and maybe a few of the girls. Though it is usually the boys who make comments to me about these things.
movingforwardslowly 